Eschscholzia californica

California poppy

Family: Papaveraceae · Type: perennial · Native

California poppy is a California native perennial found in the California Floristic Province, North Coast Ranges, western Sierra Nevada, and eastern Mojave Desert in grassy or open areas at elevations below 2,500 meters. Flowering from February to September, this plant produces bright orange to yellow flowers with 15 to 30 millimeter petals, often displaying deeper orange at the flower bases. Growing 5 to 60 centimeters tall with an erect or spreading habit, it emerges from a heavy taproot and features glabrous stems that are occasionally glaucous. Its delicate leaves have finely divided segments that are either obtuse or acute, creating a soft, feathery appearance. When mature, the plant produces distinctive seed pods 3 to 9 centimeters long containing small brown to black seeds with a distinctive net-ridged surface.

Habitat: Grassy or open areas

Bloom period: Feb-Sep

Elevation: < 2500 m

Bioregions: CA-FP, MP, w SNE, DMoj

California counties: San Diego, Calaveras, Los Angeles, Kern, Riverside, San Luis Obispo, Fresno, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Mono, Orange, San Francisco, Alameda, Tulare, Lassen, San Bernardino, Lake, Inyo, San Benito, Madera, Monterey, San Mateo, Yolo, Amador, Marin, Sonoma, Mendocino, Merced, Placer, El Dorado, Alpine, Sacramento, Santa Clara, Nevada, San Joaquin, Modoc, Colusa, Imperial, Kings, Sierra, Sutter, Tehama, Tuolumne, Butte, Contra Costa, Del Norte, Glenn, Humboldt, Mariposa, Napa, Plumas, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Siskiyou, Solano, Stanislaus, Trinity, Yuba

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.