Erect, annual or perennial herbs. Leaves alternate, pinnately dissected into numerous linear segments. Flowers yellow or red, solitary, terminal. Petals 5-16, conspicuous. Carpels ∞, 1-ovuled. Achenes capitate or spicate, rugose-reticulated, tipped with the persistent styles. [Mythological name for a favorite of Venus, changed into a flower.]

A genus of showy-flowered plants, natives of the north temperate regions of Europe and Asia, consisting of the following and about five other species. Type species: Adonis annua L.

1. Adonis Ánnua L. Pheasant's Or Bird's Eye

Fig. 1941

Adonis annua L. Sp. Pl. 547. 1753.

Adonis autumnalis L. Sp. Pl. Ed. 2, 771. 1763.

Annual, erect, 1°-2° high, branched, glabrous. Leaves finally dissected, the lower petioled, the upper sessile, the segments acute; sepals smooth, deciduous; flowers 9"-18" broad, nearly globular, orange or red, the petals obovate, and darker colored at the base; achenes spicate.

Commonly cultivated for ornament; spontaneous in gardens and occasionally escaped into waste places, especially southward. Fugitive from Europe. Summer. Adonis'-flower. Red-morocco. Camomile.