Clusters of Eschscholzia californica flowers
The state flower of California, California poppy is also the most widely-distributed species of the genus: its range extends north to Washington state and south into Mexico. Both the genus Eschscholzia and this particular species were named and described by the German poet and botanist, Adelbert von Chamisso.
The California of Chamisso’s time, the early 1800s, would have looked quite different from the California of today. According to Conservation International’s Biodiversity Hotspot site, the naturally occurring vegetation of the California floristic province is today only a quarter of its original extent, due to commercial farming and (sub)urbanization. Over two thousand plant species can only be found in this ever-declining area, including most of the other members of the genus Eschscholzia.
Botany / Photography resource links: Two links today! First of all, the superlative Human Flower Project is a weblog that explores the cultural link to flowers — “how people live through flowers”. The entry on Feral Flowers, Cultured Eyes led me to this site: Feral Flowers, by photographer Richard Dickey. Richard’s photographs are both breathtaking and heartbreaking; breathtaking because they reveal rare and ephemeral beauty, but heartbreaking because most of the land featured in the photographs is threatened by development. Recall that three-quarters of the California floristic province has been lost already…
Only north to Washington? I had always thought those yellow and orange flowers that popped up in my yard (here in Vancouver BC) every spring were California poppies.
Paul – I should have noted that I was writing about the native distribution of the plant (distribution map). As you correctly point out, it is found in southwestern British Columbia and western Washington state, but these are introduced garden escapees.
I like the color! Very nice.
I enjoyed the information about the California Poppy very much. My grandmother came from california and used to tell us about these flowers and how they covered the hillsides. The link to the feral flowers was sooooo beautiful!
I received the following email from Richard Dickey:
Hello Daniel,
I want to thank you for your wonderful weblog review about my website Feral Flowers. I appreciated it very much.
I’m working together with locals to hopefully deter planned development on two separate wilderness areas, the Gorman Hills area and only a few miles away the Tejon Ranch. Both pristine areas are home to what many consider the Holy Grail of all carpet blooms. They are located around 4000ft elevation in the high desert on the western most boundaries of the Mohave. This unique western location sometimes allows for more precipitation during the winter wet season. Occasionally snow blankets this area so the growing season begins early March and rapidly peaks in a frenzy mid April with the intensifying sunlight of spring at higher elevations.
Gorman Hills is dotted with artesian springs so a proposed bottled water tank farm with grading, pipes and water tanks would replace wildflowers and threaten sensitive wildlife.
Tejon Ranch is now owned by a NYC investment firm that wants to build a city in the desert. There is an interesting article about Tejon Ranch at this link. The author was unaware of the threatened wildflowers but mentions the California Condors.
I wanted to pass this info on to you in case others are interested in some specifics.
Thanks for your wonderful weblogs and please say thanks to UBC for me.
Best regards,
Richard Dickey
Some of the local groups involved: Save Tejon Ranch and Kern-Kaweah Chapter of the Sierra Club
I enjoyed feral flowers so much…It was a wonderful link. I viewed every picture and was just breathless each time.
Hi, does any one know how many carpels there are and what type of cymose inflorescence (simple or compound) the Eschscholzia californica has?
We have the same flowers here, but we call them Welsh Poppies.
Pat Allen
Cardiff
South Wales
United Kingdom
On my first trip to California I noticed these splendid flowers in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. It was a pleasure to raise them in my small garden in The Netherlands,so I remember my happy days in California