Can you name that plant??

Can you name that plant??

I first saw this beautiful wild flower at the River walk.  Yes, Los Angeles has a river and it stretches over 51 miles from the San Fernando Valley south to the port of Long Beach. Our river, however, looks a little different than most. It sports a concrete lining which was installed in the mid-20th century (over thirty years) to stop the massive floods that plagued the early days of Los Angeles. The greenway and Riverwalk are a more recent addition, and are comprised of only native plants in each of the five different indigenous zones along the river.

You might think just as I did that, with the availability of City plans, identifying my wildflower would be a cinch. After a couple hours online, jockeying between the approved landscape plans and Google images, my flower was nowhere to be found. How could that be? These are not tiny wild flowers; they occupy the same space as a small Oleander bush and reach 6+ feet in height.  Would my big white flower remain nameless?

Nameless until I happened upon a brilliant blog site, Name that Plant.  I had already dedoosed she was from the poppy family, and I ruled out the prickly and the bush poppy.  Voila! There she was Coulter’s Matilija poppy, or the California Poppy Tree.

Native to Southern California, it is on the rare and endangered California plant list. They are drought tolerant, blooming from March to July, and like most poppies can be extremely invasive. The Matilija can reach a height of 10ft.

A little known tale supplied by Name that Plant; The Chumash Indians believe the Matilija to be the embodiment of a Princess who died with a broken heart. Some things in life just make you smile.

Check out Name that Plant at WordPress.