User:Orangesod0/Eschscholzia californica

Taxonomy
Eschscholzia californica was the first named species of the genus Eschscholzia, named by the German botanist Adelbert von Chamisso after the Baltic German botanist Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz, his friend and colleague on Otto von Kotzebue’s scientific expedition to California and the greater Pacific circa 1810 aboard the Russian ship Rurik.

California poppy is highly variable, with over 90 synonyms. Some botanists accept two subspecies — one with four varieties (e.g., Leger and Rice, 2003) — though others do not recognize them as distinct (e.g., Jepson 1993):


 * E. californica subsp. californica, native to California, Baja California, and Oregon, widely planted as an ornamental, and an invasive elsewhere (see below).
 * E. californica subsp. californica var. californica, which is found along the coast from the San Francisco Peninsula north. They are perennial and somewhat prostrate, with yellow flowers.
 * E. californica subsp. californica var. maritima (E. L. Greene) Jeps., which is found along the coast from Monterey south to San Miguel Island. They are perennial, long-lived, glaucous, short in stature, and have extremely prostrate growth and yellow flowers.
 * E. californica subsp. californica var. crocea (Benth.) Jeps., which grows in non-arid inland regions. They are perennial, taller, and have orange flowers.
 * E. California subsp. californica var. peninsularis (E. L. Greene) Munz, which is an annual or facultative annual growing in arid inland environments.
 * E. californica subsp. mexicana (E. L. Greene) C. Clark, the Mexican Gold Poppy, which is found in the Sonoran Desert. Some authorities refer to it as E. Mexicana

To make sense of the Eschscholtzieae group's taxonomy, it's crucial to delve into the molecular and morphological aspects.These variations in these features among Eschscholzia species have led to inconsistencies in species descriptions and identifications. This variation, both within and between species, triggered a surge in Eschscholzia species descriptions, reaching 112 taxa in the early part of the last century. Currently, there are 189 taxonomic descriptions at the species level and below, with 159 type specimens scattered across global herbaria. The shift in recognizing poppy species, known as the "Greene Revolution," initiated a significant reduction in recognized species. Jepson played a pivotal role by considering the majority of described taxa as mere environmental variations.

Botanical research has held significant implications towards the classification of Eschscholzia. Despite some unresolved aspects in the phylogenies, it is evident that taxonomic are necessary within the genus, particularly in three areas: supporting two subspecies of E. californica, endorsing two subspecies of E. lemmonii, and recognizing two potential new taxa.

Historical and Cultural Significance
In the late 1700s, Spanish settlers affectionally called the poppy "copa de oro" (cup of gold). By 1816, Russian explorers officially named the flower Eschscholzia californica. Since California's statehood in 1850, local residents have embraced it as the California poppy or golden poppy.

Several years later, Chamisso introduced the wildflower through a detailed description and life-sized color painting in Horae Physicae Berolinenses (1820). This marked the entry of the poppy into European taxonomic systems as Eschscholzia californica. The living flower made its European debut in 1826, courtesy of Scottish botanist David Douglas, who collected various plant seeds, including Eschscholzia californica, for the Royal Horticultural Society of England. While evidence indicates that the golden poppy started appearing in British gardens over the subsequent fifty years, it had not yet become strongly associated with ideas of California identity and statehood. An 1883 Scottish report, recounintg a visit to California and an encounter with the golden wildflowers, reflects the early attitudes forming around the poppy.

By the 1890s, "Eschscholtzia californica" had transformed from merely the California or golden poppy to the designated state poppy– a shift from a botanical specimen with regional ties to a symbol and agent of the settler state.

Connection to Indigenous Tribes
The California Poppy has been historically used as traditional medicine and cosmetics by some indigenous people in California, particularly those native to the regions where the plant is found. The Indigenous peoples of California, in particular, have historical and cultural associations with the California poppy (e.g. Tongva Gabrielino, Cahuilla, Costanoan, Luiseno, and Pomo). These connections often involve traditional uses of the plant, cultural significance, and even folklore. While Indigenous communities have nurtured the land for generations, establishing ecological conditions conducive to wildflower growth, colonial settlers and their governing structures found the native flower's status as a genuine and intrinsic product of the land appealing.

Tongva (Garbrielino Tribe)
In the 19th century, the California poppy held a dual identity–both as a botanical native and a symbolic representation of California. It was crafted to embody the essence of a "true" Californian, celebrated and utilized predominately by the white Californian community. Organizations like the Native Daughters and Sons of the Golden West, similar tot he Daughters of the American Revolution on the East Coast, played a pivotal role in establishing the California poppy as a cultural icon.

In contrast, the Tongva peoples of the San Gabriel Valley region recognized the California Poppy by the term, Mekachaa. Such indigenous communities continue to see the Mekechaa as a plant relative, and actively resisted attempts to appropriate its existence through artistic community projects.

In Waa'aka', Tongva educator and artist activist Cindi Alvitre shares a traditional creation narrative from the original inhabitants of the Los Angeles County region, focusing on the plant and animal beings on Pimu (Southern California's Santa Catilina Island). According to Alvitre, the final plant created by the Tongva's god of creation, Wiyot, was the Island Poppy, described as "golden as the sun, bringing beauty to the world." Referred to by white settlers as Eschscholzia californica or the California poppy, this flower played a significant role by contributing to the world though one of its four golden petals, which was used to shape Tamet, the sun. This creation story highlights that, for the Indigenous peoples of Southern California, the California poppy is not just a symbol but an active and generous member of their community.

In modern day, members of the Tongva community have continued the Indigenous tradition of utilizing beadwork as a sacred practice for cultural and knowledge transmission, as community of makers crafted at least eleven Mekachaa through the collaborative process of connecting beads and string for art based project, Mekachaa: Plant Relative of Resistance (2021). Using a printed design template as a guide, Native peoples and their allies interconnected multicolored beads to produce large scale Mekachaa. As these beaded representations of the plant materialized, knowledge about transmission, as community of makers crafted at least eleven Mekachaa through the collaborative process of connecting beads and string for art based project, Mekachaa: Plant Relative of Resistance (2021).  Using a printed design template as a guide, Native peoples and their allies interconnected multicolored beads to produce large scale Mekachaa. As these beaded representations of the plant materialized, knowledge about the living plant was shared among the group members.

In her essay on beadwork circles, Kimberly Robertson emphasized the profound life-giving potential embedded in the communal practice of beadwork. Projects like, The Metzil, provide a space for Indigenous peoples to continue practicing their ancestral cultural traditions.

Unlike their counterpart white settlers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which adopted artificial poppies as a symbol of the settler state, the Tonvga-created bead Mekachaa, serve as active symbols of the presence of the living flower.

Uses
California poppy leaves are used as food or garnish, while the seeds are used in cooking. There are no clinical trials showing it can effectively treat psychiatric disorders in humans.

Chemical Compounds
E. californica contains californidine (N+(CH3)2), allocryptopine, eschscholtzine N-CH3 (californidine), and other similar (Papaveraceae) alkaloids.

The Opium Wars
The Eschscholtzia californica, commonly known as the California poppy, belongs to the Papaveraceae family, which also includes the notorious Papaver somniferum (opium poppy) and the popular Papaver rhoeas (common poppy). The poppy family carried significant cultural associations during the turn of the century, and these associations were particularly noteworthy in California. The connection between the California poppy and the opium poppy invoked memories of the mid-century Anlgo Chinese war, also known as the Opium War. This occured during a period when California's Chinese communities were rapidly expanding due to immigration and U.S. labor policies tied to railroad construction. The Los Angeles Herald, reflecting the prevalent racism of the time, made a derogatory comment suggesting a dubious connection between the California poppy and the opium poppy, associating it with the "heathen Chinee."

Despite being manipulated in campaigns to shape a white settler vision of California, the California poppy, unlike its opium counterpart, lacks the toxic potency associated with narcotics violence, and efforts to derive opium-like substances from it proved unsuccessful.

Medicinal Use
The California poppy has been traditionally prescribed for reducing pain and producing calm sleep without the dangers of conventional opiate drugs (e.g. morphine). It may be useful for painful conditions in which there is irritation or stimulation of afferent pain fibers (e.g. toothache, earache, and sore throat), in disturbed sleep, and for anxiety. Its medicinal use as an analgesic and sedative in the United States dates far back as the late 19th century, even being including in the Parke Davis catalog for these purposes, and as an excellent alternative to morphine without its negative side affects. Today, California poppy is widely used by herbalists through tincture form.

Traditionally, the herb has been employed through two methods of preparation: fresh petals utilized to create a syrup, and dried petals added to water to make an infusion or boiled for tea.

Pharmacologic data has demonstrated sedative activity in vivo, as well as GABAergic activity, sedative and anxiolytic action, and dose dependent analgesia (when administered by injection).

Exploring the Evolution of Floral Structures
In recent time, the Eschscholzia californica has become increasingly important as a model species. Recent studies on the vegetative and floral morphogenesis of the California Poppy is concurrent with the development of a large expressed-sequence tag (EST) database through the Floral Genome Project.

The Floral Genome Project (FGP) focused on the California poppy to identify new florally-expressed genes. They constructed a large, non-normalized cDNA library from floral buds and generated a database of 9079 high quality Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs). The sequencing clustered into 5713 unigenes, which included 1414 contigs and 4299 singletons. These unigenes represent unique genes or transcripts expressed in the floral buds.

Overall, the California poppy EST database and library generated in this study contributed to understanding flower initiation and development among higher eudicot and monocot model plants, providing opportunities for comparative analysis of gene families across angiosperm species.

Medical Research and Pharmaceuticals
Currently, the E. Californica is being examined as a model plant for understanding alkaloid biosynthesis for use in medical research and pharmaceuticals.

The plant species, Eschscholzia californica, is known for the accumulation of pharmacologically active alkaloids that are biosynthetically related to the morphinan alkaloids found in Papaver somniferum. Due to its ease of in vitro propagation and its significance as a model for benzylisoquinoline biosynthesis, it plays a crucial role in studies related to these alkaloids. Research by Laurence Lamboursain and Mario Jolicoeur has developed and employed Agrobacterium-mediated transformations techniques specifically tailored for this model species. These techniques serve as valuable tools for conducting studies on the modulation of transcript levels relevant to the biosynthesis of these alkaloids, as well as for endeavors in metabolic engineering.

State flower of California
During the 1890s Sarah Plummer Lemmon advocated for the adoption of the golden poppy as the state flower of California, eventually writing the bill passed by the California Legislature and signed by Governor George Pardee in 1903. In this era, the state aimed to construct an external identity grounded in the natural wealth of the region, enticing newcomers and businesses with promises of celebration and prosperity. Publicly, products synonymous with the color gold, such as oranges, wheat, actual gold, and the iconic golden poppy, were strategically employed as influential elements in the endeavor to shape and promote the state.

The designation of the California poppy as the state flower was influenced by a convergence of cultural, social, and political factors aimed at defining and affirming the identity of the colonial state. Asserting claims of indignity, territorial dominance, and communal identity, white settlers strategically orchestrated a deliberate movement to construct a cultural identity centered around the golden poppy.

In the aftermath of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, the California poppy became a central design motif and symbol influencing various decorative objects. Such decorative objects featured California scenes and prominently showcased the California poppy symbolizing the imagined, pastoral and prosperous California that artists sought to create.

A particular example is a wooden box painted by Lucia Mathews in 1929, this box serves as a visual representation of the symbiotic relationship between the poppy and California, reinforcing the state's identity through design. As the official state flower of California, Eschscholzia californica is pictured on welcome signs along highways entering California and on official Scenic Route signs.