California Poppy (Plants of the Foothill College California Native Plant Garden)

California Poppy

Eschscholzia californica

Family ²

Papaveraceae

Description ³

It is a perennial or annual growing to 13–152 cm tall, with alternately branching glaucous blue-green foliage. The leaves are alternately divided into round, lobed segments. The flowers are solitary on long stems, silky-textured, with four petals, each petal 2 to 6 cm long and broad; flower color ranges from yellow to orange, with flowering from February to September. The petals close at night or in cold, windy weather and open again the following morning, although they may remain closed in cloudy weather. The fruit is a slender, dehiscent capsule 3 to 9 cm long, which splits in two to release the numerous small black or dark brown seeds.

Community ²

Yellow Pine Forest, Red Fir Forest, Lodgepole Forest, Foothill Woodland, Chaparral, Valley Grassland, Northern Coastal Scrub, Coastal Prairie

Flowering ²

Feb- Jul

Location in Garden ²

Widespread

Ethnobotany ²

a number of compounds unique to the species, have been isolated from the California poppy (Duke, 1992; Kalvana et al., 2006). At least two of these, the alkaloids sanguinarine and chelerythrine, have generated interest for their anti-bacterial and cancer treating potential