You probably know that the California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica) is the state flower of California. But did you know that the Matilija Poppy (Romneya coulteri) was the runner-up in that contest?

In 1890, the California State Floral Society held an election to determine the state’s signature flower. The contestants were the Mariposa Lily, the Matilija Poppy, and the California Poppy. The California Poppy won that election by a landslide. In 1903, the state legislature made the title official.

The Matilija Poppy did not fade away into obscurity, however.

The huge size and spectacular beauty of its flowers made it an ornamental garden favorite. It even became popular in England, where it gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit. In sandy soil in California, it grows via rhizomes, and thus it can grow under your house and come out the other side, under driveways, or consume your entire yard.

The Matilija Poppy may have gotten its name from Chief Matilija of the Chumash peoples whose ancestral lands were in present-day Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties and the Channel Islands. Chumash descendant Julie Turnamalt-Stenslie wrote in My Chumash Ancestral Legacy about the story of Chief Matilija’s daughter, Amatil, who was in love with a handsome warrior, Cocopah, who was tragically killed in battle. “Amatil’s love was so deep and so pure that she laid upon her lover and there she died. What remained of that love was a beautiful flower with pure white petals symbolizing their love and a yellow center to represent the everlasting brilliance of their love. We know this flower as the Matilija Poppy.”

The Chumash are reported to have used the plant for skin and gum problems and stomach upset. Fresh leaves and flowers were crushed and made into a poultice that was applied to irritated skin. For gastroenteritis from bad food, an infusion was made from the leaves, floral parts, and smaller green stems. Despite the pleasant fragrance and medicinal uses, the plant contains strong chemicals to repel herbivores and mild saponins that can cause skin irritation and gastric issues in humans.

Romneya is a genus of flowering plants in the poppy family (Papaveraceae). There are two species in the genus Romneya, which was named for the Irish astronomer John Thomas Romney Robinson. Coulter’s Matilija Poppy (Romneya coulteri) commemorates Thomas Coulter, an Irish botanist and explorer who first collected the Matilija Poppy in California in 1831-32. The Hairy Matilija Poppy (Romneya trichocalyx) has hairy sepals on the flower buds and is overall a smaller plant with smaller flowers.

Determining the range of the two species is difficult, because some authorities do not recognize R. trichocalyx as a distinct species, but rather as a variant of R. Coulteri. Moreover, the popularity of the Matilija Poppy led to the planting of both species, or hybrids of the two species, in many places throughout San Diego County, including in Mission Trails. To simplify matters, the term “Matilija Poppy” will be used to refer to both species.

In the wild, the Matilija Poppy has a limited range, extending from Ventura County south to northern Baja California, where it grows in dry canyons, in chaparral and coastal sage scrub plant communities.

It is a tall shrub that may exceed 2.5 meters in height. The inflorescence is a large solitary flower with six crinkly white petals, each up to 10 centimeters long. At the center of the flower is a cluster of many yellow stamens. The fruit is a bristly capsule 3 or 4 centimeters long containing many tiny seeds. The flower is the largest of any species native to California. It is a fire follower. The California Native Plant Society’s Rare Plant Inventory gives Coulter’s Matilija Poppy (R. coulteri) a rank of 4.2 (a plant of limited distribution and moderately threatened in California). Hairy Matilija Poppy (R. trichocalyx) was considered but rejected for the Rare Plant Inventory.

There are several stands of Matilija Poppy in Mission Trails. One stand is off the Oak Grove Loop near Mission Gorge Road. There are other stands of Matilija Poppy near Old Mission Dam, along the Rim Trail near the 52 freeway, and near the East Fortuna Staging Area.

Look for the huge, beautiful flowers of the runner-up state flower in April, May, and June.

Would you have voted for the Matilija Poppy, or for its small orange cousin, the California Poppy?

Editor’s note: Article and photo provided by Mission Trails Regional Park trail guide Nancy Stassinopoulos.