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Papaver heterophyllum
Also called Wind Poppy, Windpoppy
Papaver heterophyllum, previously known as Stylomecon heterophylla, and better known as the wind poppy, is a winter annual herbaceous plant. It is endemic to the western California Floristic Province and known to grow in the area starting from the San Francisco Bay Area of Central Western California southwards to northwestern Baja California, Mexico. Its main habitat is often described as mesic and shady, with loamy soils such as soft sandy loam, clay loam, and leaf mold loam.
It is a member of the family Papaveraceae, the poppy family of flowering plants mostly found in the Northern Hemisphere. The name poppy originates from Early Old English popeġ, popaeġ, popæġ, or popei and is suspected to have previously come from Late Latin papavum, popauer.
Papaver heterophyllum is native to the coastal mountains of central California down to Baja where it grows on the sides of slopes below altitudes of 4000 feet (1200 m). They are often found in chaparral, grasslands and oak woodlands. They prefer an environment with low moisture and well-drained soil in part shade and are uncommon even within their range. They seem to survive a relatively broad range of environmental conditions, at least compared to P. californicum.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Papaver heterophyllum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
