SOME SIMPLE FLOWERS 15 



so under it is just the place to insure rain-proof seed 

 exits. If you do not believe that Poppy now has a 

 most efficient seed-case, just observe a new-turned 

 railroad embankment. This year it may have only 

 a few scattered plants, but next season it will be a 

 veritable carpet of gold. 



If you care to read about flowers, you will find 

 that our Poppy has been more sung about than any 

 other of our California wild flowers. All visitors 

 have been impressed with its beauty. Indeed, its 

 botanical name, Eschscholtzia calif ornica, tells of a 

 scientist who visited here over a century ago. John 

 Friedrich von Eschscholtz was born in Dorpat, 

 Russia, November 12, 1793, and died there May 19, 

 1834. He became a physician and naturalist, and as 

 such accompanied the Russian scientific voyages 

 around the world in 1815-1824. He was in Califor- 

 nia at two different intervals. He wrote so enthusi- 

 astically of this golden flower, new to European 

 eyes, that botanists named it for him, and added the 

 name of its birthplace for the species. 



About fifty years before the Russians entered San 

 Francisco Bay, some Spanish sailors, approaching 

 the southern coast of the State, saw the blaze of the 

 poppies on the hills and exclaimed, "The altar 

 cloth of San Pasqual! The altar cloth of San Pas- 

 qual!" This referred to the history of Saint Pascal, 

 who was a favorite of the Spanish peasants. He 



