POPPY FAMILY. 



207 



excavated, surrounding the base of the pistil, the calyx and corolla in 

 consequence seeming as if perigynous; this receptacle in addition often 

 bears a spreading- outer and an erect inner rim. Sepals completely 

 united into a calyptra or extinguisher-shaped body which parts from 

 the receptacle and is pushed off by the expanding petals. Stamens 

 numerous, mostly on the base of the petals; anthers commonly longer 

 than the filaments. Ovary linear; style very short; stigmas com- 

 monly 4, subulate-filiform unequal. Capsule 1-celled, many-seeded, 

 2-valved; dehiscence commonly occurs after the capsule parts from the 

 receptacle and before it reaches the ground, usually beginning at the 

 moment that the base of the capsule is released from the vise-like 

 hollowed receptacle, this action allowing the valves which are elas- 

 tically dehiscent from base to apex, to separate. (Collected at San 

 Francisco in 1810 by Adelbert von Chamisso, German poet and 

 naturalist, and named by him in honor of his college friend and 

 companion on a scientific voyage around the world, Dr. J. F. 

 Eschscholtz.) 



Receptacle with broad rim, cotyledons 2-cleft; perennial (or some varieties 



annual) I. E. Californica. 



Receptacle destitute of rim or the rim represented by a mere herbaceous ring; 

 cotyledons entire; annuals. 



Stems leafy; petals fan-shaped, longer than broad 2. E. exspitom. 



Acaulesceht; petals rhomboidal, mostly broader than long 



3. E. rhombipdala. 



1. E. Californica Cham. California Poppy. Suberect or 

 diffuse, with stems 1 to 2 ft. long; radical leaves ternately several 

 times dissected into linear or oblong segments, on long petioles, the 

 whole leaf £ to 1 ft. long; cauline smaller on snorter petioles; pedun- 

 cles 2 or 3 to in. long; petals fan-shaped, £ to 2 in. long, varying 

 from deep orange to straw-color; outer spreading rim of the receptacle 

 £ to 2 lines wide; inner erect rim hyaline; capsule 1 to 3 or even 4 

 in. long. 



One of the most common, striking and widely ditfused plants of the 

 Californian flora, abundant in the spring but in many portions of the 

 state found in flower in other or in all seasons. On account of its gor- 

 geous beauty it has been favored with an exceptional number of 

 poetic names mostly derived from Spanish sources, such as "Copa de 

 Oro," "Torosa," "Amapola, " " k Dormidera. ' ' The original speci- 

 mens, from which the species was first described, came from the San 

 Francisco sandhills; this form has small flowers and a very narrow 

 rim to the receptacle and is common everywhere in the immediate 

 vicinity of the ocean. The interior form, which is much more robust 

 and may be designated as var. crocea (E. crocea Benth.), has a very 

 conspicuous rim to the receptacle (often 2 lines wide), and very large 

 flowers, the petals as much as 2 in. long. It is abundant everywhere 

 in the valleys, on the plains and among the foothills, frequently 

 covering large areas in Apr. and May with an extraordinary profusion 

 of golden or deep orange flowers. In the sunshine the sheen of the 

 petals is exceeding striking and brilliant. In the latter part of May 

 and in June the tips of the petals become yellow and by autumn tin- 



