POPPY FAMILY. Papaveraceae. 



A slender, graceful plant, one or two 

 feet tall > with smootn branching, purplish 



heterophyllum stems, smooth leaves, variously cut and 

 Red lobed, and charming flowers, gay yet 



pnng delicate. They are about an inch and a 



California , ,, 



half across, usually with four, scarlet 



petals, each with a spot of maroon at the base, and a 

 bright-green pistil and maroon filaments with pale-yellow 

 anthers. The buds and seed-pods are smooth. This 

 varies a good deal, smells strong of opium when picked, 

 and its flowers glow like jewels among the underbrush on 

 open hillsides, but fall to pieces when gathered. 



There are a good many kinds of Eschscholtzia, with 

 bitter, watery juice; leaves alternate, cut into many fine 

 divisions; buds erect; flowers yellow; receptacle cuplike, 

 often with a rim; the two sepals united to form a pointed 

 cap, which is pushed off by the four petals as they expand' 

 stamens numerous, with short filaments and long anthers* 

 style very short, usually with four stigmas; pod long, 

 narrow and ribbed, containing many seeds. These plants 

 were collected at San Francisco in 1816 by von Chamisso, 

 a German poet and naturalist, and named in honor of his 

 friend Eschscholtz, a botanist. 



Probably the most celebrated western 

 California Poppy / T ^ 



Eschscholtzia flower and deservedly popular. It varies 



California a great deal in general form and coloring, 



Yellow but is usually a fine plant, over a foot tall, 



Cal^O W ^ stems anc * l eaves a beautiful shade 



of light bluish-green, and the flowers [ 

 two or three inches across,' usually bright-yellow, shading 

 to orange at the base, but sometimes almost cream-color. 

 They open in sunlight and when blooming in quantities 

 are a beautiful sight, covering the hillsides with a cloth of I 

 gold. In southern Arizona a similar kind often borders j 

 the dry beds of streams with bright color, with much the! 

 same value in the landscape as the Marsh Marigolds along 

 New England streams. It is the State flower of Califor- 

 nia and has many poetic Spanish names, such as Torosa, 

 Amapola, and Domidera, besides Copa de Oro, meaning 

 "Cup of gold." 



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