FRIENDS OF EDGEWOOD NATURAL PRESERVE
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FRIENDS OF EDGEWOOD NATURAL PRESERVE
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A CLOSER LOOK AT THE CALIFORNIA POPPY By Bob Young This is the fifth of a series of articles describing the flowers pictured in our wildflower brochure. — ed. California Poppy is shown in the brochure "Common Native Wildflowers of Edgewood," published jointly by the Santa Clara Valley Chapter of the California Native Plant Society and Friends of Edgewood Natural Preserve.
The scientific name for the California Poppy is Eschscholzia californica (pronounced eh-SHOLTZ-ee-uh cal-ih-FOR-nih-cuh). Naturalist Adelbert von Chamisso gave this name in 1820 in honor of Dr. Johann Friedrich Eschscholtz. Both Chamisso and Eschscholtz were on an expedition by ship to the Pacific coast in 1817 sponsored by the Russian Count Nikolai Romanzoff. Eschscholtz was the ship's doctor. (Note that the poppy genus does not have a "t" in its name; whereas, Dr. Eschscholtz's name is spelled with the "t.") Chamisso and Eschscholtz made the original collection of the California Poppy near the Presidio in San Francisco. Chamisso also named another genus, Romanzoffia, in honor of Romanzoff. In San Mateo County we have the plant Romanzoffia californica, Mist Maidens. On another voyage, in 1826, Eschscholtz discovered a lupine on California beaches and named it in honor of his friend Chamisso. The lupine is Lupinus chamissonis. In 1903 the California Poppy was named our state flower. It is quite often an annual; however, if the associated heavy taproot develops fully, it can become a perennial. As its four yellow to orange (sometimes white) satiny petals are developing, two sepals wrap around and cover them like a tall cap. These sepals are shed as the petals expand. After the flower is pollinated, the petals are shed and a long seedpod develops. Our poppy does not like competition from other plants, especially grasses. A sunny, dry, gravelly open area is preferred. The California Poppy blooms with large spring flowers and again in summer with smaller, lighter-colored flowers. In the evening or during cloudy weather the four fan-shaped petals fold up. Waking up late in the morning earned our poppy the Spanish name of "dormidera," (the drowsy one). Other Spanish names are "amapola" (poppy), and "copa de oro" (cup or wineglass of gold). |
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