84 Popular Studies of California Wild Flowers 



The Matilija Poppy (Romneya Coulteri) 

 By Bertha M. Rice 



The most regally handsome poppy in the world is the giant 

 white poppy, the stately Matilija, Romneya coulteri, which is native 

 to the southern part of the State. This blossom is a famous one 

 in European gardens, where it was early transplanted. In its native 

 habitat it may be found occasionally from Santa Barbara south- 

 ward into Lower California. It is acknowledged by those who 

 have studied the flower to be a plant of very catholic tastes ; for 

 while it evidently prefers stream borders and steep, almost inacces- 

 sible canon sides, it is also found growing on open hillsides, in dry 

 stream beds, or even in the fertile valleys. It is not a common 

 plant, but is probably more plentiful in the Ojai Valley, Ventura 

 County, and in the extreme southern part of the State. 



While journeying over the Santa Fe lines en route to San 

 Diego, about three years ago, I had my first glimpse of these tower- 

 ing white poppies luxuriating in their native surroundings. It was 

 early morning and we passed a field of these beautiful golden- 

 hearted blossoms shaking out their great diaphanous petals to the 

 morning breezes. It was a glorious sight and I have never for- 

 gotten it. I do not remember the locality, but it was several hours 

 before our train reached Los Angeles. While in San Diego, with 

 my friend, Miss Kate Sessions, the widely known and well-beloved 

 botanist, I examined more closely some exceedingly fine specimens 

 of the Romneya. It is a smooth, stout, perennial-rooted plant, 

 somewhat bushy in nature, and grows anywhere from two to ten 

 or twelve feet high, according to the nature of its habitat. It has 

 handsome gray-green foliage and its wonderful, fragrant blossoms 

 are from three to as many as nine inches in diameter. Its crepe- 

 like petals are a pure glistening white and the greenish-white pistil 

 is surrounded by hundreds of closely packed, bright yellow stamens, 

 forming a huge golden center, which sets off proportionately well 

 the enormous blossoms. In Lower California, the plant is prized 

 by the Indians for remedial purposes. 



The first scientist to discover this giant poppy was Dr. Thomas 

 Coulter, who after several years of exploratibn in Mexico came to 

 Monterey, California, in November, 1861. He was the first botanist 

 to cross the desert to the Colorado River. He remained in Cali- 

 fornia about three years and collected a thousand or more specimens. 

 The magnificent white poppy he dedicated to his friend T. Romney 

 Robinson, a noted Irish astronomer of Armagh Observatory. Thus 

 we have the genus Romneya and the species coulteri, named for 

 its discoverer. Apropos, at this time, while speaking of Dr. Coulter's 

 poppy, an incident may be related which I am sure will be enjoyed 

 by all who are interested in historical matters pertaining to our far- 

 famed wild flowers. It concerns Dr. Coulter and that indefatigable 

 Scotch explorer, David Douglas, who was in California at the time 

 collecting seeds for the Royal Horticultural Gardens of England. 

 The two scientists met in Monterey. Of this meeting, David Doug- 



