Romneya coulteri, known commonly as Matilija poppy, is a perennial from the poppy family native to southern California and Baja California where it occurs in dry regions, often hosting chaparral plant communities. It is fairly common in cultivation especially where water conservation is a concern and is known to spread aggressively via its rhizomatous roots if treated well. The white and yellow flowers are the largest of any plant native to California and was in contention to be the state flower though it was beaten out by its not-too-distant relative, the California poppy. The fruit employs similar structures to many others in Papaveraceae (if you check my earlier post of Argemone glauca you’ll see great similarity!) but has more chambers than most, making it look like a crown. Each pod bears copious, small, classically poppyesque seeds. If you look closely you can see tiny fractures form in the capsule such that even gentle bumping or shaking can break it to pieces, spilling more of the seed that hasn’t already fallen out the top when shaken in a breeze.

Gossypium barbadense is one of the species of cotton grown agriculturally in the modern world where it now grows throughout though it originated in Ecuador and Peru. Left to grow beyond the short cycle it sees in cultivation, this species can turn into a small and slender tree which produces showy but short-lived flowers and later bolls of cotton. Though accounting for around 1/20 of the world’s cotton, the trade names ‘pima’ and ‘Egyptian’ cotton are well-known. Cultivars of G. barbadense are typically Long Staple or Extra Long Staple (I even created and measured staples of this boll’s fiber to check!) which allows them to make fine thread used in high thread count textiles and to create strong cord which has for one thing has been used in auto tires. It is unlikely that this has remained a pure species as it’s been used by humans for longer than 6,000 years and cotton species in proximity can easily interbreed with one another. Some interbreeding was likely deliberate as well, considering for example that the Hawaiian cotton Gossypium tomentosum was bred with commercial species to convey disease and pest resistance. G. barbadense has a noteworthy characteristic in having a single large and prominent extrafloral nectary on the underside of its leaves where it produces a visible (and pretty tasty) bead of nectar. These sorts of nectar sources are not intended to attract pollinators but instead usually draw in insects like ants or wasps which will defend the plant as a food source. While many cotton species have further value for their seed oil, G. barbadense produces too much gossypol, a chemical which in its seeds which renders its oil unsuitable for consumption. Interestingly, gossypol also is known to be an antimalarial compound and has been investigated as a male contraceptive, though in the modern day is only being considered as an alternative to vasectomy.

Argemone glauca, or Pua kala, is one of the prickly poppies (family Papaveraceae) and is endemic the Hawaiian islands where it exists at many altitudes. A. glauca (named for the glaucous = gray green/blue leaves) produces a classic white flower with yellow center and has spiny leaves which along with toxic alkaloids deter herbivores from grazing. While not possessing the opioids for which poppies may be best known, the alkaloids Pua kala possesses made it useful to native Hawaiians for treating various medical conditions such as ulcers, toothaches, and warts. Like its mainland counterparts, A. glauca prefers fairly dry habitats, doing well in places with little rainfall. Though native to only north and south America, various species of Argemone have been introduced throughout the world, including different species though within the native range of the genus. Argemone mexicana is a fairly close relative of A. glauca and has been introduced to the Hawaiian islands, benefiting from adaptation to similar environments.

Datura wrightii is a plant in the family Solanaceae (tomatoes, eggplants, potatoes) which grows throughout the American southwest and Mexico. The common name of sacred datura, by which I know it, is derived from the way native people would use it in rituals due to its toxic compounds which can cause altered perception. Like other solanaceous plants, it is poisonous and its consumption has been known to kill on occasion. While the appendation "wrightii" refers to the collector of the plant from the wild, Charles Wright, the actual description of the species comes from Eduard August von Regel, illustrating the way herbarium specimens have been and continue to be used. Plant material collections in herbariums play a role in describing and identifying species, but also create a picture of plant distributions in the past which can be used to show both the changing locations in which the plants can live, as well as the smaller and smaller distribution resulting from human activity. Even now new species are being described from herbarium specimens which are actually extinct, never to be seen alive again.

Dermatophyllum secundiflorum is a shrub or small tree native to parts of Texas and a fairly large portion of Mexico. It is frequently used as an ornamental plant, appreciated for its showy and particularly fragrant flowers which hang in clumps similar to Wisteria. Both the leaves and the flower structure are thickish with the flowers having a velvety surface. The brightly-colored seeds are one of the appreciated attributes of this plant, and are can be used to determine how much scarification would be necessary to germinate the seed. Due to the hard seed coat, the seeds can lay dormant for many years before germinating. After germination, the cotyledons remain underground, nourishing a deep taproot and the first sign of germination is when true leaves break the surface of the soil. This plant (as well as other members of Fabaceae) contain an alkaloid called Cytisine which has been used in drugs for over 40 years as an aid to quit smoking tobacco. Native Americans were known to use the seeds as jewelry as well as for spiritual ceremonies making use of the psychoactive alkaloids.

Betula pendula, the silver birch or European white birch, is one of only a few birch species that can tolerate the hot summers in southern California. While there are a few species native to the United States, they tend to prefer colder climates generally no higher than USDA Zone 7. Besides its ornamental value, Birch also is relied upon for making high grade plywood and even can be used to produce syrup. The trees are monoecious - having separate male and female flowers on the same plant - and their flowers are catkins. The female flower matures into a cone composed of scales (top pieces), each of which hides one or more paper-winged seeds underneath. When dry, the cone becomes quite fragile, easily shedding both seed and scale with the seeds able to catch an air current to glide away.

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my poppy seed pod collection