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FRIENDS OF EDGEWOOD NATURAL PRESERVE
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THE HEALING PLANTS OF EDGEWOOD The California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica) By Mary Anne Leary When asked to write this new series for the Edgewood Explorer about the healing gifts of the flowers, plants and trees of the preserve, I was delighted! Often when leading a wildflower walk hikers will ask about the healing qualities and purposes for which the plants were used. Though no expert, by any means, I have always had a passion for natural healing remedies so this will be a fun exploration for those of us who share the same curiosity and admiration for nature’s healing gifts. We will draw upon herbal, homeopathic, essential oil, flower essence (a form of vibrational medicine) and Native American uses, amongst others, for the featured plant. Not each plant will be used in each of these forms but, when appropriate, it will be shared. I thought it best to start with the California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica) being that it is our state flower. 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.” The California Poppy is a cousin of the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) but does not have the addictive properties of the latter. The seed is used as a mild sedative and is said to be gentle enough for use by children and the elderly. Per Christopher Hobbs, L.Ac., a 4th generation clinical herbalist, botanist, author, teacher and the formulator and scientific consultant for Rainbow Light Nutritional Systems in Santa Cruz: “California poppy is my favorite sedative and sleep-promoting herb which can currently be found in a variety of herbal remedies sold in the United States for promoting sleep, helping one to relax, and easing mild anxiety. Because of its mild sedative and analgesic properties, it can be given safely to children. Clinical and laboratory work on California poppy has clearly demonstrated the plant's sedative and anti-anxiety properties; it has been shown to improve both sleep latency and quality (Bruneton, 1995). For Christopher’s informative article on insomnia and herbal remedies to use for it, go to: http://www.christopherhobbs.com/website/library/articles/article_files/herbs_for_insomnia.html. Along with insomnia, California Poppy is used in its herbal form for stress-related disorders such as anxiety, nervousness, bedwetting, sensitivity to changes in weather and behavioral disorders such as depression, ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). Contrary to its opium cousin, the California Poppy seems to help normalize psychological function, improving concentration and intellectual activity. Native Americans used the California Poppy, with its sedative alkaloid compounds, as an herbal painkiller for persistent headaches and toothache (cutting the root and applying the juices directly) and as a herbal poultice for sores and ulcers of the skin. Apparently some Indian women used the poppy as a love charm to lure unresponsive lovers!! They also used the pollen as a cosmetic (once they had lured their intended?!). I found references to both Native American and early Californians of Spanish heritage cooking poppies in oil and using it as a hair tonic to make their hair grow thicker and shinier. The Spanish named the poppy Dormidera, or the “drowsy one” as the poppy is a sun worshipper opening in the daylight and closing up tightly at night or in cloudy, windy weather. The California Poppy is said to sometimes being smoked as a substitute for marijuana as is mildly euphoric but is not addictive or habit forming. I found references where the poppy is used in the cooking of bagels, teas and kolaches, a type of pastry consisting of fillings ranging from fruits to cheeses inside a bread roll. Would anyone like to start the Edgewood Poppy Cookbook?! Dr. James Duke, who in 1995 retired from his career as an ethnobotanist with the USDA, lists 298 known active constituents for the California poppy, including antioxidants and appreciable amounts of various soporifics (sleep inducing) alkaloids. (Duke, James A. 1992 Handbook of Phytochemical Constituents of GRAS Herbs and other Economic Plants, CRC Press). There are no known sources showing California Poppy being used in the distilled essential oil form. Homeopathically, (a therapeutic method that applies the Law of Similars), the Materia Medica with Repertory by Boericke states that it is a soporic remedy which is harmless and used in tincture form. Very minute concentrations are used in homeopathic medicines. Apparently in experiments with animals it showed to act more powerfully than morphine, the substance found in the opium poppy. Lastly, we will speak of the California Poppy in the form of a flower essence. Flower essences are derived from the actual life force of the flower (thus its role in vibrational medicine) having a strong effect upon our mental and emotional make-up. The flower essence medicine of the California Poppy is quite significant to the history of our state. The essence helps us to find spirituality within our hearts and to develop an inner center of knowing versus seeking outside of ourselves for a false sense of higher or altered consciousness as through addictions or the lure of glamour. When you think of how and why the Gold Rush drew so many people to California, the razzle-dazzle of Hollywood, and the height of drug activity during the Haight Ashbury days, I think it is only fitting that the California Poppy be our state emblem, encouraging people to go within and seek out that “inner gold” that is of most value for ourselves and for humanity. Isn’t it lovely that our state flower provides the medicine for people who are star-struck (I’m talking Britney not the Big Dipper!), into cults or fleeting fads to be able to strengthen and develop a solid inner life that leads to self-responsibility and quiet inner development? May we all truly appreciate the healing gifts of our lovely state flower, the California Poppy. |
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