Eschscholzia minutiflora
Encyclopedia
Eschscholzia minutiflora is a species of poppy
known by the common name pygmy poppy.
It is native to the deserts of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. This wildflower is an annual herb growing from a patch of segmented leaves with divided, rounded leaflets. The thin, erect or nodding stems may be very short or up to 35 centimeters tall. They bear small poppy flowers with petals varying in size from only a few millimeters long or up to two and a half centimeters in length, and bright yellow in color, sometimes with orange spotting. The fruit is a capsule 3 to 6 centimeters long containing tiny brown to black seeds.
The species contains three subspecies:
Poppy
A poppy is one of a group of a flowering plants in the poppy family, many of which are grown in gardens for their colorful flowers. Poppies are sometimes used for symbolic reasons, such as in remembrance of soldiers who have died during wartime....
known by the common name pygmy poppy.
It is native to the deserts of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. This wildflower is an annual herb growing from a patch of segmented leaves with divided, rounded leaflets. The thin, erect or nodding stems may be very short or up to 35 centimeters tall. They bear small poppy flowers with petals varying in size from only a few millimeters long or up to two and a half centimeters in length, and bright yellow in color, sometimes with orange spotting. The fruit is a capsule 3 to 6 centimeters long containing tiny brown to black seeds.
The species contains three subspecies:
- Eschscholzia minutiflora subsp. minutiflora has the smallest flowers (petals 0.3-1.0 cm long), the broadest range, and n = 18 chromosomes.
- Eschscholzia minutiflora subsp. covillei (Greene) C.Clark has flowers of intermediate size (petals 0.6-1.8 cm long), n = 12 chromosomes, and is found in the Mojave DesertMojave DesertThe Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
. - Eschscholzia minutiflora subsp. twisselmannii C.Clark has the largest flowers (petals 1.0-2.6 cm long), n = 6 chromosomes, and occurs in the El Paso and Rand mountains of the Mojave Desert.