Papaver heterophyllum
Wind poppy
Family: Papaveraceae · Type: perennial · Native
Wind poppy is a California native perennial found in southern northwestern, central Sierra Nevada foothills, San Joaquin Valley, central western, and southwestern California in grassy areas and chaparral openings at elevations below 1,500 meters. Flowering from April to May, this plant produces striking orange-red flowers with purple spots at the base, 10 to 20 millimeters wide, that quickly shed their delicate petals. Growing 30 to 60 centimeters tall with yellow sap and slender stems, the plant develops intricate foliage. Its deeply pinnate-lobed leaves range 2 to 12 centimeters long, with primary lobes that are toothed or further subdivided, appearing glabrous to sparsely hairy. The fruit is an obconic to obovate capsule 1 to 2 centimeters long, containing many small brown or black seeds with a rough net-like texture.
Habitat: Grassy areas, openings in chaparral
Bloom period: Apr-May
Elevation: < 1500 m
Bioregions: s NW, c&s SNF, SnJV, CW, SW
California counties: Kern, Tulare, San Diego, Orange, Santa Clara, Riverside, Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, Ventura, Fresno, Napa, Monterey, Contra Costa, Santa Barbara, Merced, Stanislaus, San Joaquin, Alameda, San Benito, Kings
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.