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BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary


Eschscholzia californica
California poppy

 
Scientific Name: Eschscholzia californica Cham.
English Name: California poppy
 
Classification / Taxonomy
Scientific Name - Concept Reference: Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
Classification Level: Species
Species Group: Vascular Plant
Species Code: ESCHCAL
Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family
Plantae Anthophyta Dicotyledoneae Papaverales Papaveraceae
   
Conservation Status / Legal Designation
Global Status: G4 (Jan 2000)
Provincial Status: SNA (Apr 2019)
BC List: Exotic
Provincial FRPA list:   
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SARA Schedule:
General Status Canada: 7 - Exotic (2010)
   
Ecology & Life History
General Description:
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(Type / Subtype / Dependence)
Global Habitat Comments: E. californica grows naturally in open, well drained areas, in grasslands in deserts, and from valleys to foothills (U.S. Forest Service 1988, Hickman 1993). However, because E. californica is widely cultivated and used in reclamation plantings, it may occur outside of these habitats (Welsh et al. 1993, Gleason and Cronquist 1963).

Subspecies mexicana is known from limestone slopes of the Franklin Mountains near El Paso, Texas (Correll and Johnston 1970), rocky slopes and mesas in westcentral to southwestern New Mexico (Martin and Hutchins 1980), plains and mesas through most of Arizona (Kearney and Peebles 1960), and creosote bush communities in southwest Utah (Albee et al. 1988).
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Provincial Inventory
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Economic Attributes
Global Economic Use: FOOD
LANDSCAPING
MEDICINE/DRUG
OTHER USES/PRODUCTS
Global Economic Comments: This species is widely reputed to be an effective treatment of nervousness, anxiety, and sleeplessness, with its primary action on the nervous system. It is also used to treat stomach cramps, toothaches, and depression (AllHerb.com 2000, Frontier Co-op 2000). It is commonly used in Europe as a relaxant and antispasmodic, and has mild sedative and analgesic properties (AllHerb.com 2000). The above-ground portions of the plant are generally used in medicinal preparations (Robyn Klein pers. comm.). It can be used to make a fresh tincture as a remedy for the above ailments, and is also a constituent of many commercially sold herbal blends. Many such products are intended to help restless children relax. It is also included with wild oats and St. Johnswort in formulas for the treatment of addictions (AllHerb.com 2000). Strange dreams are a side effect of taking this plant in some people (Robyn Klein pers. comm.).

Prices for this species were found as follows:

San Joaquin Valley, California: $3.00/lb of unspecified material (above-ground parts?) (Ed Fletcher pers. comm.)

U.S., internet: $5.96/fl. oz. of "Children's Relax" or "Relax" herbal remedy

U.S., internet: $10.46/2 fl. oz. of "Herbal Wellness for Kids, Orange Flavored"

Fort Collins, Colorado, mail order: $16.00/lb of seeds (~248,000 seeds)
 
Distribution
Endemic: N
Global Range Comment: E. californica presently occurs from western Canada through Texas and in all states in between. Eastwards, it is found in a few plains states and in most states east of the Mississippi River (USDA-NRCS 1999).

Apparently, the native range of this species is the southwest U.S., as far east as Utah; occurrences further east are apparently escapes from cultivation, or resulting from "wildflower," roadside, or reclamation plantings (Nelson and Williams 1992, Welsh et al. 1993, Weber and Wittmann 1996a, Gleason and Cronquist 1963).

Subspecies mexicana is apparently native to west Texas (Correll and Johnston 1970), westcentral and southwestern New Mexico (Martin and Hutchins 1980), all but the northeastern portion of Arizona (Kearney and Peebles 1960), northern Sonora (Kearney and Peebles 1960), extreme southwest Utah (Albee et al. 1988), along the Colorado River corridor into far southern Nevada (Nevada Natural Heritage Program, Kartesz 1988), and desert mountains of California (Hickman 1993). Kartesz (1999) considers it extant in all these states.

Hickman (1993) lists the range of subspecies californica as California to southern Washington, Nevada [western], New Mexico, and northwest Baja California, although the western Nevada occurrences may have spread from plantings (Nevada Natural Heritage Program). It has apparently spread from cultivation throughout much of the eastern and western United States and Canada (Kartesz 1999). It is reportedly introduced and non-native to Illinois, Michigan, British Columbia, Manitoba, Wyoming, Ontario, Tennessee, and Missouri (Natural Heritage Programs).

An attempted introduction of this species was purportedly made in the Franklin Mountains near El Paso, Texas, but the plant failed to persist at this location (Bill Carr pers. comm.).
Disjunct, more common elsewhere:
Peripheral, major distribution elsewhere:
 
Authors / Contributors
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References and Related Literature
Albee, B.J., L.M. Shultz, and S. Goodrich. 1988. Atlas of the vascular plants of Utah. Utah Museum Natural History Occasional Publication 7, Salt Lake City, Utah. 670 pp.
Bittman, Roxanne. Personal Communication. Botanist, California Natural Diversity Database, Sacramento, Calif.
Carr, Bill. Botanist, Texas Conservation Data Center.
Correll, D.S., and M.C. Johnston. 1970. Manual of the vascular plants of Texas. Texas Research Foundation, Renner. 1881 pp.
Edward J. Fletcher Strategic Sourcing, Inc.
Gleason, H.A., and A. Cronquist. 1963. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. D. Van Nostrand Company, New York, NY. 810 pp.
Hickman, J. C., ed. 1993. The Jepson manual: Higher plants of California. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA. 1400 pp.
Kartesz, J.T. 1988. A flora of Nevada. Ph.D. dissertation. Univ. of Nevada, Reno. 3 volumes. 1729 pp.
Kartesz, J.T. 1999. A synonymized checklist and atlas with biological attributes for the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. First edition. In: Kartesz, J.T., and C.A. Meacham. Synthesis of the North American Flora, Version 1.0. North Carolina Botanical Garden, Chapel Hill, N.C.
Kearney, T.H., R.H. Peebles, J.T. Howell, and E. McClintock. 1960. Arizona Flora. Revised 2nd Edition with supplement. University of California Press, Berkeley, California. 1085 pp.
Martin, W.C., and C.R. Hutchins. 1980-1981. A flora of New Mexico. 1980, Vol. 1; 1981, Vol. 2. J. Cramer, in der A.R. Gantner Verlag, K.G., Vaduz, Liechtenstein. 2591 pp.
McGuffin, Michael. Personal communication. American Herbal Products Association, Silver Spring MD
Nelson, Ruth Ashton. 1969. Handbook of Rocky Mountain Plants. Dale Stuart King, Tucson, Arizona.
Schuetze, Sue. Arizona Heritage Data Management System. Personal communication.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service. 1999. November 3-last update. The PLANTS database. Online. Available: http://plants.usda.gov/plants. Accessed 2000-Jan.
U.S. Forest Service (USFS). 1988. Range handbook. Dover Publications Inc., New York.
Weber, W.A., and R.C. Wittmann. 1996a. Colorado flora: Eastern slope. Revised edition. Univ. Press of Colorado, Niwot, Colorado. 524 pp.
Welsh, S.L., N.D. Atwood, S. Goodrich, and L.C. Higgins (eds.) 1993. A Utah flora. 2nd edition. Brigham Young Univ., Provo, Utah. 986 pp.
 

Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.

Suggested Citation:

B.C. Conservation Data Centre. Species Summary: Eschscholzia californica. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Nov 5, 2026).