California Poppy - California State Flower. This pretty plant, E. Californica, is one of those which give so marked an aspect to the fields of California, which at times are sheets of various colors, from the profusion of wild flowers.
The Eschscholtzia is one of our prettiest border annuals, with bright orange or yellow flowers, which contrast well with the fine cut, glaucous green foliage.
The plant is ornamental in leaf, bud, flower, and seed, and deserves a place in every garden. Its culture is very simple, being only to sow the seeds where the plants are to remain, and to thin out the plants when too thick.
Usually the seed will sow itself, and plants come up year after year. The plants, like all of the poppy family, transplant badly from the long, bare tap-roots, which are wanting in fibres.
For a mass of color this plant is very effective: the only objection to it is, that the flowers only expand in sunshine. We regard it, however, as one of our best hardy annuals.
 | California Indians cherished the poppy as both a source of food and for oil extracted from the plant. Its botanical name, Eschsholtzia californica, was given by Adelbert Von Chamisso, a naturalist and member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences, |
who dropped anchor in San Francisco in 1816 in a bay surrounded by hills of the golden flowers. Also sometimes known as the flame flower, la amapola, and copa de oro (cup of gold), the poppy grows wild throughout California. It became the state flower in 1903. Every year April 6 is California Poppy Day, and Governor Wilson proclaimed May 13-18, 1996, Poppy Week. Source; library.ca.gov/
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California poppy (Eschscholzia californica californica)
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1 comment:
The state flower actually grows wild as far north as southern Washington state and as far south as Baja California, Mexico, but it's most closely associated with California, not just because of its name but also because of the state's vast ranges of rolling hills turned golden by its delicate petals.
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