Index / Search / Eschscholzia californica

§1 Plant

Eschscholzia californica Cham.

vernacular California poppy — species · Papaveraceae


USDA
ESCA2
GBIF
2888380
Rank
species
California poppy (Eschscholzia californica)
Platephotograph · pronghornranch67CC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Forb/herb
Duration
Annual, Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Papaveraceae Juss.
Genus
Eschscholzia
§2a

Native status, by region

  • AK Alaska Introduced
  • CAN Canada Introduced
  • HI Hawaii Introduced
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b

County-level range

· 162 counties across 28 states/territories
Legend Native · 159 Introduced · 3 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Medium
Shade
Medium
Moisture use
Low
Fire
Low
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
Medium
CaCO₃
Medium
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
7 °F minimum
Frost-free days
120 min.
Precipitation
8–18 in/yr
pH range
5.8–7.5
Root depth
10 in min.
Fertility need
Low
Soil texture
medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Single Crown
Growth rate
Moderate
Lifespan
Short
Mature height
1.2 ft
Foliage texture
Medium
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Porous
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Orange
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Late Spring
Seed abundance
High
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Summer
Spread rate
Moderate
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
269,888
Propagation
seed, container
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
Yes
Browse palatability
Low
Graze palatability
Low
Palatable, human
No
Protein potential
Low
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 162 counties across 28 states/territories.

Alabama view state ↗ 2 N
Alaska view state ↗ 1 I
Arizona view state ↗ 13 N
California view state ↗ 53 N
Colorado view state ↗ 1 N
Georgia view state ↗ 2 N
Hawaii view state ↗ 2 I
Idaho view state ↗ 5 N
Illinois view state ↗ 1 N
Kentucky view state ↗ 1 N
Louisiana view state ↗ 2 N
Massachusetts view state ↗ 4 N
Michigan view state ↗ 1 N
Nevada view state ↗ 4 N
New Mexico view state ↗ 5 N
New York view state ↗ 7 N
North Carolina view state ↗ 3 N
Ohio view state ↗ 2 N
Oregon view state ↗ 18 N
Pennsylvania view state ↗ 6 N
South Carolina view state ↗ 4 N
Tennessee view state ↗ 2 N
Texas view state ↗ 3 N
Utah view state ↗ 3 N
Washington view state ↗ 13 N
West Virginia view state ↗ 1 N
Wisconsin view state ↗ 2 N
Wyoming view state ↗ 1 N

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/ESCA2 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2888380 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T20:46:58Z