Mexican Gold Poppy
Eschscholzia mexicana, Poppy Family ( Papaveraceae ), Mexican Gold Poppy. Also called: Desert Gold Poppy or Amapola del Campo.

Annual. In years with good fall and winter rains, California Or Mexican Gold Poppies may produce carpets of gold in the spring—a dazzling sight for visitors and residents alike.

There are three species of Eschscholzia in Arizona. Mexican Gold Poppies, have a orange cross in the center of the gold pedals. The dark golden orange flowered California Poppies, which are native to southern Arizona, are no longer considered a separate species, the Mexican Gold Poppy (E. mexicana). But that they are now to be simply considered a smaller, yellower-flowered subspecies of the larger, orange-flowered California Poppy.

Height: Up To About 16 Inches Tall.
Flowers: Orange color. Cup-shaped flowers, with 4 petals up to 1.5" in diameter. Followed by a long slender seed capsule.
Blooming Time: Mid March - May.
Leaves: Finely divided blue - green, (fern-like) to 2.5" long. Divided into narrow segments, on long stalks at the stem joints.
Found: Native in Arizona and California .
Elevation: 0 - 5000 Feet.
Habitat: Mexican Gold Poppy's habitat is the desert environs, where it occupies open, sandy soils to rocky flats, bajadas, roadsides, and playas. Commonly seen at disturbed, bare greound, such as new roadsides.