People's Pilot, Volume 2, Number 35, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 February 1893 — The California State Flower. [ARTICLE]

The California State Flower.

The State flower of California is the eschscholtzia or orange-colored California poppy, which has great beauty and individuality. It is exclusively a California flower and was so named after Dr. Eschscholtz, who made an exploration to this country in 1816. The flower is a smooth-stemmed annual, with finely cut, pale-green leaves, four brilant orange petals of satiny texture, numerous stamens of the same shade, and a colorless, acrid juice. The two [illegible] are united into a cap, like a candle extinguisher, which is pushed upward and dropped off as the blossom expands. There are several varieties, the largest and brightest being found in the alleys and foothills and the smaller and lighter-colored in the neighborhood of the sea-coast. One kind is spotless [illegible; possibly "white"]. It often attains the height of nearly two feet.