Red Hawk Ridge

California Poppy, Eschscholzia californica, can be an annual or perennial plant, depending on where you live. It grows to about 2 feet tall and has feathery leaves reminiscent of wild carrot plants with bright orange, yellow, pink, or red flowers.

Other names include Desert Poppy, Desert Gold, and Yellow Poppy.

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Native to western North America, this lady is cultivated as a garden plant in many places. She likes sandy soil and is considered drought-tolerant. It doesn’t take much water for her to thrive, making her a nice addition to southern gardens. In areas with little rain, you want to deep water about twice a month to help the taproot firmly establish.

An established taproot is the magic of drought tolerance.

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As the name might dictate, California Poppy is the state flower of California, but she can also be found growing in many other states like Arizona and even Northern Mexico.

CALIFORNIA POPPY CONTAINS:

• isoquinoline alkaloids (including protopine, cryptopine, and chelidonine)
• flavone glycosides

Native American peoples were known to use the sap of California Poppy for its pain-killing properties, particularly for toothache.

-Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine, pg. 207

I know you read ‘poppy’ and immediately thought of opium…or maybe that’s just me. California Poppy is actually related to the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) but has a very different effect on the nervous system.

California Poppy is not narcotic.

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Rather than causing disorientation, California Poppy can normalize psychological function and is extremely useful for treating physical and psychological issues in children, including bedwetting, difficulty in sleeping, and nervous tension/anxiety.

As with many herbs, California Poppy can interact with pharmaceuticals, specifically blood thinners and certain blood pressure medications like metoprolol. The medicinal benefits come from latex in the plant, but not everyone who has a latex allergy will experience ill effects from naturally occurring latex. Use with caution if you are allergic to synthetic latex.

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Can cause a false positive for opium on drug tests.

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Not for use during pregnancy.

CALIFORNIA POPPY ACTIONS:

• antispasmodic
• sedative/sopoforic
• analgesic (pain reliever)
• nervine (calms the nerves)

A French study found that California Poppy extracts were sedative and anxiety-reducing, all the while being nontoxic.

California Poppy is an interesting plant, embodying the sun while pulling us into the dark secret place of rest with her sedative properties. In this modern day and age, we have lost the thrill of the darkness with all our electronics and artificial light. Exposure to these lights at night suppresses the production of melatonin in our bodies, which is the hormone secreted by the pineal gland that regulates the circadian rhythm of our bodies. This affects our sleep, hunger, other hormone production, and much more!

It’s okay to sleep without dreaming, to fall deep and far. Have no fear. Day will come, and you’ll once again stretch and unfurl.

-Maia Toll, Illustrated Herbiary, pg. 77

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Many blessings,
Emma Lee Joy