22 Popular Studies of California Wild Floiuers 



Most of the species of Eschscholzia are impatient of fixed type 

 and vary most unaccountably in detail of form and color under 

 cultivation. This tendency in the plant has caused botanists much 

 trouble, but has proven a welcome feature to skilled horticulturists, 

 who find the plant so pliable that it has been moulded by selection 

 into a great variety of colors and forms. Luther Burbank succeeded 

 in producing a pure crimson Eschscholtzia, and several other re- 

 markably handsome things which are considered very wonderful and 

 beautiful by those who prefer made-over flowers. But to appre- 

 ciate one of the most graceful and elegant flowers in the world, one 

 must find the Golden Poppy, growing under favorable conditions, in 

 its native habitat. 



Its graceful stem, a foot or more tall ; its finely dissected, bluish- 

 green foliage, and above all, the rich golden cup, three or four 

 inches in diameter, with its satiny texture and indescribable sheen, 

 like the bloom on fruit, form a dream of pure loveliness. No artist 

 has ever done the poppy justice, nor yet has it ever been described. 

 The. blossoms in the full perfection of their glory seem to have caught 

 the sun's fire, and have a teasing, elusive quality, a maddening, glad- 

 dening something, that just escapes you that has never been named 

 that will never be caught by the artist's brush that will remain, 

 always, as was intended this flower's tender secret, its delicate, 

 elusive charm. And it is so dainty in its habits ! The exquisite 

 texture of its lovely satin gown is carefully protected, sheathed in 

 a clean green cap, which is slowly pushed off when it is ready to 

 open its petals. All day its glory is shared with the world, and 

 from the plentiful stores of its rich golden pollen the bees and other 

 insects may gather at will ; but it will have none of the "fly-by- 

 nights," and so surely it withdraws itself from the eventide, folding 

 its silken draperies, petal upon petal, over its rich golden heart, pro- 

 tecting its pollen from the dews and harmful influences, to unfurl 

 the next day when the sun is high in the heavens. It is a true child 

 of the sun. Who that has seen a California Poppy field at mid-day, 

 matching its glory with the glory of the sun-god, has not marveled 

 at this great wealth of brilliant color? Even in death, the Poppy 

 is beautiful, for its petals, lightly shed, are still fresh and fair, and 

 when dried they turn to a dusky gold. 



Indians had many superstitions regarding the flower. One was 

 that a nursing mother must not touch, nor allow her infant to touch, 

 its glowing petals, or the milk would dry in the mother's breast. To 

 certain tribes of Indians this blossom was the "Great Spirit Flower," 

 and when the gold diggers came rushing into their land to tear up 

 the mountains in their eager search for the glittering ore, the Indians 

 , averred that the bright leaves of the "Great Spirit Flower," falling 

 back to earth year after year, finally turned into this strange gold 

 for which the white men were always seeking. They believed that 

 a deity reigned over the poppy fields ; and in Southern California, 

 near Pasadena, where the fabled "Altar Cloth of San Pasqual" 

 (that lost glory of the Golden Land) was said to have been located, 

 were Indians thought to have been sun-worshipers. In early spring, 

 when the sun-gold of the poppies sheeted the hills with their dazzling 



