The official California State Flower is the Golden
Poppy. Easily distinguished by its four brilliant orange, satiny
petals and finely divided, gray-green leaves. It can be found blooming
from March through May on hillsides and valleys across California.
The Golden Poppy's scientific name, Escholtzia californica,
comes from an Estonian physician, Johann Friedrich Gustav von Escholtz,
who visited San Francisco Bay aboard the Russian ship Rurik in 1816.
Also aboard the Rurik was the self-taught botanist Adelbert von Chamisso
who named the flower in honor of his friend and traveling companion.
In 1913 the legislature adopted the Golden Poppy as
the California State Flower: "Its satiny petals, bright with the gleam of our
gold mines, rich with the sheen of our fruits, and warm with the
radiance of our sunshine, typify the ideal of California as no other
flower could."
The Golden Poppy's scientific name, Escholtzia californica,
comes from an Estonian physician, Johann Friedrich Gustav von Escholtz,
who visited San Francisco Bay aboard the Russian ship Rurik in 1816.
Also aboard the Rurik was the self-taught botanist Adelbert von Chamisso
who named the flower in honor of his friend and traveling companion.