There is is no greater anticipated “rite of spring” in California, than the arrival of our magnificent, iridescent orange native wild California Poppy! Early Spanish settlers called it copa del ora (cup of gold) after the legend that the orange petals, turning to gold, filled the soil with the precious metal. The wild California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica) was named for doctor-naturalist Johann Friedrich Gustav von Eschscholtz who was the surgeon for the Russian expedition team that dropped anchor in San Francisco in 1815 in a bay surrounded by hills covered with the golden flowers. It was designated the state flower of California in 1903, and is now protected by state law prohibiting anyone from picking or destroying it.