Witnessed by: Ayurveda
Mexican prickly poppy (Argemone mexicana), of the Papaveraceae family. Prickly annual with blue-green thistle-like leaves, yellow poppy flowers and spiny capsules, exuding yellow latex; native range: of tropical America, now a common weed of waste and roadside ground throughout India. Globally recognized as svarnakshiri · pitadugdha in Sanskrit, satyanashi · bharbhand in Hindi, and Mexican prickly poppy, yellow thistle in English. The part used is whole plant, latex, seed, root. Bitter and acrid; the wounded plant bleeds a bright yellow, acrid juice.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
MEXICAN PRICKLY POPPY
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Mexican prickly poppy
- Scientific name
- Argemone mexicana L.
- Family
- Papaveraceae
Form
- Part used
- whole plant, latex, seed, root
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Ayurveda
- bitter (tikta) · pungent (katu)
Temperature
- Ayurveda
- heating (ushna)
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- kushtaghna (for skin disease), krimighna (anthelmintic), vrana-shodhana (cleanses wounds) and rechana (purgative, in the latex)
Cautions
- Contraindications
- internal use requires great care
- Toxicity
- the seed and seed oil are toxic; argemone oil adulterating mustard oil has caused epidemic dropsy, and the plant is used cautiously
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