Eschscholzia lemmonii

Lemmon's poppy

Family: Papaveraceae · Type: annual · Native

Lemmon's poppy is a California native annual found in rocky or sandy habitats across scattered western mountain ranges at elevations of 500 to 2,500 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces vibrant orange to deep yellow flowers 15 to 30 millimeters wide with delicate, softly pointed petals. Growing with slender stems 5 to 30 centimeters tall, it forms compact plants with minimal to no hair coverage. Its leaves have finely divided segments with generally rounded tips, creating a soft, feathery appearance. The fruit develops as a distinctive elongated pod reaching 3 to 7 centimeters long, containing small brown seeds with raised, bur-like surface textures.

California counties: Santa Barbara, Fresno, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Benito, Kern, San Joaquin, Merced, Mariposa, Kings, Ventura, Placer, Tulare, Tehama, San Diego

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