Native Plant Fun Facts: The California state flower, Eschscholzia californica

The California poppy, scientific name Eschscholzia California. It’s the Califoria state flower, and is sometimes two-toned in color, as seen here.

This week’s native California plant is likely familiar to you, either from seeing it in wild and urban areas, and because it’s the California state flower! The California poppy (Eschscholzia californica; Family Papaveraceae), also known as the Golden poppy or Cup of Gold, became California’s state flower on March 2nd, 1903. We’re a bit sad that we missed celebrating this flower on April 6th, when it was California Poppy Day! The poppies probably wouldn’t mind you belatedly honoring them, though. 

The California poppy in Garden for the Environment’s native backyard area with Checkerbloom (Sidalcea malviflora), Spring 2020.

While usually considered an annual plant, specimens in ideal conditions can survive year-round, so it’s also considered a perennial plant. The delicate blooms are usually a brilliant orange, but can range from ivory, to yellow, and almost red, and you’ll see them blooming between February and September. While the flowers are not significant sources of nectar, many types of bees and other insects harvest their abundant pollen. They also exhibit nyctinasty, which means that their petals close up at night and open in the day, if the flowers have the proper light and temperature conditions. 

A cluster of poppies with their petals closed, exhibiting nyctinasty. This means that their petals close up at night and open in the day, if the flowers have the proper light and temperature conditions. It appears as if there was abundant sun this day, but it was likely rather chilly, explaining why the flowers are closed.

California poppies easily self-seed from the long, slender pods they develop. When the seeds are ripe, the pod pops open and can send seeds flying up to six feet away, and each pod can bear up to 100 seeds! 

California poppy can thrive in nutritionally-poor soil, and can spring up just about anywhere, including sidewalk and wall cracks, making it a delightful find in some cases, but also a weed in others, depending on the desirability of it in the spot where it’s sprouted. In the San Francisco Bay area, they’re an ideal garden plant, as they require little water or care and offer so much beauty both through its delicate flowers and lacy foliage. 

California poppies can readily self-seed, as these ones did on the wall and in the sidewalk in front of the San Francisco Juvenile Justice Center on Woodside Avenue.

Native California peoples used the California poppy for food, toothaches, cessation of lactation, and wound care. Modern-day herbalists include it in remedies for a variety of purposes. Ask your favorite herbalist what they use it for!