On Vancouver Island

We were driving down island and found a town with the same name as my nephew ("Duncan") so we had to stop. Besides having his grandson's name, my dad was also excited that the town was chockablock full of totem poles. Too bad my dad doesn't have a blog, because he took way more pictures than me. Mine make for a very strange sampling of vacation experiences.

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365 Urban Species. #222: California Poppy

Photos by urbpan. Location: Downtown Victoria, British Columbia.

Urban species #222: California poppy Eschscholzia californica

In the Summer, the rains abandon the Pacific northwest and the weeds and grasses turn sere and yellow. Above the wan amber stalks glow golden orange flowers--for the California poppy has been brought to this city to thrive in the summer drought. Native to Southern Washington down to California and the southwest, California poppy enjoys the dry summers of the Puget Sound area and its many other new homes. It has been introduced to places with Mediterranean climates all around the world, including Chile, Australia and South Africa. It can now be found in many eastern states, as well as in southwest Canada. According to the USDA, California poppy can even be found in Massachusetts, though only in Boston's Suffolk County. Only the state of Tennessee lists California poppy as an invasive.

California poppy enjoys full sun, and grows best on grassy hillsides, or treeless lots. Herbivores avoid its bitter-tasting alkaloids, and grazed areas often boast the most poppies. The chemicals in California poppy, though less potent than those of the opium poppy, can be used for analgesic and sedative purposes. In its native range, flying beetles pollenate California poppies, but in most places this function has been replaced by honeybees. Unsurprisingly, this attractive urban wildflower is the state flower of the most populous state, California.
( two from Discovery Park, Seattle )