California poppy seeds
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California poppy ( Eschscholzia californica ) |
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The Californian poppy ( Eschscholzia californica ), also called gold poppy , Californian cap poppy or sleepy head , is a species of the poppy family (Papaveraceae). This species has its origin in California and other Southwest American states. It is now also widespread in Australia , South Africa and Europe . It was poisonous plant of the year 2016.
description
features
The California poppy is a bare, annual or perennial herbaceous plant that reaches heights of up to 60 cm. It has ascending, branched stems that are slightly woody at the base . It forms a deep tap root. The leaves , standing in a basal rosette , are gray-green, triple pinnate, divided into many fine, linear segments with blunt tips and up to 14 cm long.
It forms a terminal or axillary axillary flower bud sitting upright on long stalks, at first almost spherical, later conical. The saucer-like, radially symmetrical flowers reach a diameter of 2 to 12 cm. The base of the flower, the receptaculum, has a pronounced widened edge (see illustration on the right). Above are two sepals and the four bright yellow to orange (rarely white or reddish), overlapping petals . Most often the petals have an orange spot at the base. The two sepals initially surround the flower completely in the form of an ancient sleepyhead ( kalyptra ), they are stripped off when the petals bloom and fall off as a whole. Hence the name Schlafmützchen. The many stamens are dense around the upper ovary, which consists of two thread-like carpels . The flowering period extends from July to September. The seeds ripen from August to September.
Long, thin, almost cylindrical pods up to 10 cm long, slightly thickened in the middle, are formed. The bald, single-chambered pods have ten longitudinal ribs and open lengthways on two sides after ripening. Numerous, reticulated, brown to black, elliptical seeds 1.5 to 1.8 mm in length are then released from the pod.
Other properties
All parts of the plant are poisonous, as it contains up to 1.6% alkaloids in the roots and around 0.3% in the herb . The root contains mainly allocryptopin , while californidin dominates in the herb . It also contains allocryptopin and some escholzin . Other ingredients are the alkaloids protopine and chelerythrine as well as flavonoids , e.g. B. rutoside . In contrast to the other poppy plants, the plant does not contain any milky sap , but a colorless watery liquid.
The chromosome number is 2n = 12.
Subspecies
The California poppy is very varied. In total, more than 90 variations of the species have been described. Not only were differences made between locations and plant types, plants were differentiated according to the color and size of the flowers. Today only two subspecies are recognized:
- Eschscholzia californica subsp. californica : with a pronounced widened edge of the flower base and doubly lobed cotyledons. Their original distribution area are the open grassy areas of California (inland valleys), Oregon , Nevada and Washington as well as the Baja California in Mexico .
- Eschscholzia californica subsp. mexicana (Greene) C. Clark : with a barely pronounced enlarged edge of the flower base and unlobed cotyledons. It is found in the deserts of Arizona , California , New Mexico , Nevada , Texas , Utah, and the Sonoran Desert of Mexico .
Distribution and ecology
This species is considered to be a "drought survivor" because the seeds can survive for years in dry soils. With suitable weather the plants germinate and bloom quickly and cover the land with a sea of flowers.
In dry areas or during cold winters, the California poppy grows as an annual plant. In more favorable conditions, a taproot forms and it then thrives as a perennial plant for several years. In hot summers, the above-ground parts of the plant die and only the fleshy taproot survives.
The home of the California poppy is the southwestern United States and Mexico. There it occurs at altitudes up to 2000 meters. It appears very numerous in California. North of Los Angeles County , in the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve , about 7 km² are covered with the bright orange-yellow flowers when they bloom. It needs a lot of light and permeable, nutrient-poor soil. He gets along well with maritime locations.
The flowers are only open when the sun is shining. The hermaphrodite flowers are pollinated by insects . This species uses wind and self- propagation to spread it . In winter it can withstand temperatures down to −10 ° C.
Surname
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This species got its scientific name from the German poet and explorer Adelbert von Chamisso on the Rurik expedition that was carried out under the command of Otto von Kotzebue from 1815 to 1818 . On this circumnavigation of the world, unknown plants and animals were also documented in California. Adelbert von Chamisso named the genus of the Californian poppy after his friend and colleague Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz , a German-Baltic doctor who took part in the expedition as a ship's doctor and naturalist. Up to its final form Eschscholzia , the name went through some changes over time. The German name Escholtz was transliterated into the Cyrillic alphabet as Эшшолц (Ėššolc) . When translated back into Latin script, it became Eschscholtz with a doubled “sch”. Chamisso Latinized the name as Eschscholzius , without the "t". In the description of the genus from 1820 it was called Eschscholzia , which is how it is called in the international botanical nomenclature. However, the name in the plate that accompanied the description is Eschholzia and elsewhere in the publication Eschscholtzia . The last name lasted for over a century and is still used occasionally today. The specimen copy collected by Chamisso is in the herbarium of the Botanical Museum Berlin . The port of San Francisco is given as the type location .
Culture
The California poppy has become widespread over the past few centuries, either as a garden plant or as a result of other human activities. After the end of the California gold rush , when many prospectors embarked from San Francisco to seek their fortune in Chile, New Zealand and Australia, the ships picked up sand from the shores of San Francisco as ballast. This is how the California poppy came to these countries, where it became a common weed. Garden plants also often find their way into the great outdoors. He is now regarded in Germany as a naturalized neophyte . In 1825 this species found its way into English gardens.
The California poppy officially became the state flower of California in 1903 . Its golden flowers became a symbol of the "Golden State". April 6th is celebrated in California as "California Poppy Day". It is a common myth that there is a California law prohibiting the cutting or other removal of California poppy seeds. However, a law prohibits the removal of vegetation along provincial and state highways, except by government-authorized personnel.
Due to the advanced elucidation of the molecular structure of the flower of the California poppy, it is used as a model plant in research on flowering plants.
The California poppy is particularly suitable for dry rock gardens with sandy soil. It is unsuitable as a cut flower because the flower loses its petals relatively quickly after being cut off.
There are now some varieties of ornamental plants. The California poppy is also used as a pasture plant for bees and for greening roadsides. In France it is cultivated for pharmaceutical purposes.
Use as a remedy
California poppy leaves were used by Native Americans for medicinal and spiritual purposes. In particular, it was used as a sleeping and sedative, as well as a mild pain reliever. The boiled flowers were rubbed into the hair against lice. The women of the Cahuilla are said to have used the pollen as cosmetics.
Today the ingredients are mainly used in herbal medicine and homeopathy . Despite the close relationship to the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) , Eschscholzia has a significantly different effect on the central nervous system. The Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products of the European Medicines Agency got the herb of the California poppy seeds as a traditional herbal medicine for mild symptoms of mental stress and as a sleep aid evaluated.
The patent application by Boehringer Ingelheim for use as a pharmaceutical drug for the treatment of depression shows that the California poppy is also of interest to the modern pharmaceutical industry .
See also
- Other yellow poppy plants that occur in Central Europe are the yellow horn poppy ( Glaucium flavum ) and the forest poppy ( Meconopsis cambrica ).
literature
- Dietrich Frohne: Medicinal Plant Lexicon . 8th edition, Wissenschaftliche Verlagsanstalt, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-8047-2316-0 .
- K. Hiller, MF Melzig: Lexicon of medicinal plants and drugs. 2nd edition, Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Heidelberg 2010, ISBN 978-3-8274-2053-4 .
Web links
- California poppy seeds. In: FloraWeb.de.
- Thomas Meyer: Data sheet with identification key and photos at Flora-de: Flora von Deutschland (old name of the website: Flowers in Swabia )
- Description at heilkraeuter.de
- The gold poppy as a medicinal plant
- Gold poppy enzyme BBE
Individual evidence
- ^ Poison plant of the year 2016. Wandsbek Botanical Special Garden, accessed on December 16, 2015 .
- ↑ B. Bös: GIFTPFLANZEN.COMpendium, accessed February 2008.
- ↑ Description in Pharmacy of the University. Mainz ( Memento from June 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), accessed February 2008
- ↑ Eschscholzia californica at Tropicos.org. In: IPCN Chromosome Reports . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
- ^ Description in Flora of North America, accessed February 2008.
- ↑ a b Ed. Dr. J. Curtis Clark California State Polytechnic University ( July 8, 2010 memento on the Internet Archive ) Accessed February 2008.
- ↑ a b Susan Mahr: Description at "University of Wisconsin" ( Memento from June 29, 2004 in the Internet Archive ), accessed February 2008.
- ↑ Jane Owen, Diarmuid Gavin, Gardens through time London, BBC Books 2004, 13
- ↑ Cal. Section 384a of the Criminal Code
- ↑ Uni. Bremen: Research projects ( Memento from September 21, 2004 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF file; 105 kB).
- ↑ Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products : Final assessment report on Eschscholzia californica Cham., Herba. May 6, 2015.
- ↑ Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products: Final European Union herbal monograph on Eschscholzia californica Cham., Herba. May 6, 2015.
- ^ Böhringer Ingelheim: Patent for the use of Eschscholzia californica for the production of drugs for the treatment of depression
Blue Monkshood (2005) | Pfaffenhütchen (2006) | Red Foxglove (2007) | Hercules shrub (2008) | Tobacco (2009) | Herbstzeitlose (2010) | Yew (2011) | Common Laburnum (2012) | Cherry laurel (2013) | Lily of the Valley (2014) | Delphinium (2015) | California Poppy (2016) | Bleeding Heart (2017) | Wonder Tree (2018) | Arum (2019) | Black Deadly nightshade (2020)
