''Dendromecon rigida'', also called bush poppy or tree poppy, is a shrub or small tree of the

Papaveraceae The Papaveraceae are an economically important family of about 42 genera and approximately 775 known species of flowering plants in the order Ranunculales, informally known as the poppy family. The family is cosmopolitan, occurring in temperat ...

native to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

and

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

Distribution and habitat

''Dendromecon rigida'' occurs in Northern California in the foothills of the

California Coast Ranges The Coast Ranges of California span from Del Norte or Humboldt County, California, south to Santa Barbara County. The other three coastal California mountain ranges are the Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges and the Klamath Mountains. P ...

Klamath Mountains The Klamath Mountains are a rugged and lightly populated mountain range in northwestern California and southwestern Oregon in the western United States. As a mountain system within both the greater Pacific Coast Ranges and the California Coast ...

, southwest Cascade Range, and western Sierra Nevada in the Montane and Interior chaparral and woodlands and other habitats. It is found in the foothills of the

Transverse Ranges The Transverse Ranges are a group of mountain ranges of southern California, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region in North America. The Transverse Ranges begin at the southern end of the California Coast Ranges and lie within Santa ...

and Peninsular Ranges and in other areas, in Interior and Montane chaparral and woodlands and other habitats, in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

and northern Baja California Peninsula. The plants occur in these regions up to in elevation. Plants grow on dry slopes and washes, and prefer areas that have just been burned.

Description

''Dendromecon rigida'' is a small perennial shrub, rarely exceeding tall. The leaves are alternate, narrow lanceolate, 3–10 cm long, more than three times as long as broad. The margin of the leaves is finely toothed. The plant is evergreen and the leaves are somewhat leathery to the touch. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...

s are solitary and terminal. The

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s are 2–7 cm diameter, with four satiny yellow petals. Plants bloom in late winter to mid-spring. The receptacle is funnel-shaped and surrounds the ovary base. Two

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coine ...

s are shed when the flower blooms, and the petals are shed as well after pollination. There are many free stamens. Flowers bloom April to June. The

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

s produced are cylindric and dehiscent from the base; the fruits measure 5–10 cm long. The many seeds are smooth, brown or black, with a small pale outgrowth.

Varieties

*''Dendromecon rigida'' ssp. ''harfordii'' (former classification) — Channel Islands tree poppy; the current

botanical name A botanical name is a formal scientific name conforming to the ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN) and, if it concerns a plant cultigen, the additional cultivar or Group epithets must conform to the ''Internat ...

is '' Dendromecon harfordii''.CalFlora Database: ''Dendromecon harfordii''
accepted by TJM2 + USDA PLANTS + JM93 . accessed 1.14.2014 Dendromecon rigida, by Mary Vaux Walcott

Dendromecon rigida, by Mary Vaux Walcott

Cultivation

''Dendromecon rigida'' is cultivated as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that ...

by specialty

plant nurseries A nursery is a place where plants are propagated and grown to a desired size. Mostly the plants concerned are for gardening, forestry or conservation biology, rather than agriculture. They include retail nurseries, which sell to the general p ...

. It is used in

native plant In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often popularised as "with no human intervention") during history. The term is equ ...

and

drought tolerant Drought tolerance is the ability to which a plant maintains its biomass production during arid or drought conditions. Some plants are naturally adapted to dry conditions'','' surviving with protection mechanisms such as desiccation tolerance, deto ...

gardens and

natural landscaping Natural landscaping, also called native gardening, is the use of native plants and adapted species, including trees, shrubs, groundcover, and grasses which are local to the geographic area of the garden. Benefits Maintenance Natural land ...

. This poppy prefers fast draining soils but will grow well in clay soil if there is little to no water after it is established. It has a pH tolerance from 6 to 8 and a rainfall tolerance of 31 to 90 cm. This bush also prefers to be in full sun.

References

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment of ''Dendromecon rigida''''Dendromecon rigida'' — U.C. Photo Gallery
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5256765 Papaveroideae Flora of California Flora of Baja California Flora of the Cascade Range Flora of the Klamath Mountains Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Natural history of the Peninsular Ranges Natural history of the Transverse Ranges Garden plants of North America Drought-tolerant plants Flora without expected TNC conservation status