California Poppy Identification

Flowers

• The flowers generated by the California poppy are attractive and showy, consisting of four petals with what the Missouri Botanical Garden describes as a "silky" texture. The flowers have a distinct cup shape and are as wide as 3 inches. The flowers emerge on elongated stems. Colors on the species range from a deep orange shade to an orange-yellow mix, but cultivars of the California poppy produce flowers in tints including pink, white, lilac and red.

Foliage

• The California poppy develops multiple branches, growing to form mounds of plants between 12 inches and 15 inches high and just as wide. The foliage resembles that of ferns, with the bluish-green leaves having a feathery appearance, according to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. The majority of the foliage sprouts from the base of a California poppy; Heather Fara of the University of Florida notes the leaves are similar to those of the parsley plant. After a California blooms, the foliage changes to a brownish color.

Seeds

• In cold weather locations, a California poppy is an annual, unable to tolerate the winter. However, in warmer sites, specifically between U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 6 and 10, California poppy is a short-lived perennial that develops a taproot. California poppy flowers yield a thin, long seedpod that eventually dry out and split open, scattering minute, blackish seeds about. This enables the plant to produce colonies of poppies in the wild, a trait that carries over in cultivation unless you remove the seedpods before they open up.

Other Characteristics

• The blooming period of the California poppy is from the late spring, in June, into July. The flowers actually close up when the weather is cloudy, as well as during the evening hours. For this reason, the California poppy performs best in full sun and it grows in the wild in locations receiving plenty of sun. California poppy is toxic, especially to small children.