Editing Eschscholzia californica (section)

== Historical and cultural significance ==
[[File:Willard Worden, Poppies and Lupine, c1915.jpg|thumb|[[Willard Worden]], ''Poppies and Lupine'', gelatin silver print, c. 1915.]]
In the late 1700s, Spanish settlers affectionately called the poppy "copa de oro" (gold cup). By 1816, Russian explorers officially named the flower ''Eschscholzia californica''. Since California's statehood in 1850, local residents have embraced it as the California poppy or ''golden poppy''.

Several years later, [[Adelbert von Chamisso|Chamisso]] introduced the wildflower through a detailed description and life-sized color painting in ''Horae Physicae Berolinenses'' (1820).<ref>Beidleman, Richard G. (March 2006). ''California's Frontier Naturalist'' (1st ed.). pp. 52–53. {{ISBN|9780520230101}}</ref> This marked the entry of the poppy into European taxonomic systems as ''Eschscholzia californica''.<ref name="Douglas">Douglas, David (1914). "''Journal Kept by David Douglas during His Travels in North America 1823–1827''". London: William Wesley & Son: 14.</ref> The living flower made its European debut in 1826, courtesy of Scottish botanist [[David Douglas (botanist)|David Douglas]], who collected various plant seeds, including ''Eschscholzia californica'', for the Royal Horticultural Society of England.<ref name="Douglas" /> While evidence indicates that the golden poppy started appearing in British gardens over the subsequent fifty years, it had not yet become strongly associated with ideas of California identity and statehood.<ref name="Douglas" /> An 1883 Scottish report, recounting a visit to California and an encounter with the golden wildflowers, reflects the early attitudes forming around the poppy.<ref name="Douglas" />

By the 1890s, ''Eschscholzia californica'' had transformed from merely the California or golden poppy to the designated state poppy– a shift from a botanical specimen with regional ties to a symbol of the state.

=== Connection to indigenous tribes ===
The California poppy has been historically used as traditional medicine and cosmetics by some [[Indigenous peoples of California|indigenous people in California]], particularly those native to the regions where the plant is found.<ref name="Still-2013"/> In particular, [[Tongva|Tongva Gabrielino]], [[Cahuilla]], [[Ohlone|Costanoan]], [[Luiseño|Luiseno]], and [[Pomo]] have cultural and historical connections with the poppy.<ref name="Still-2013"/> These connections involve traditional uses of the plant, cultural significance, and even folklore. While indigenous communities have nurtured the land for generations, establishing ecological conditions conducive to wildflower growth, colonial settlers and their governing structures found the native flower's status as a genuine and intrinsic product of the land appealing.<ref name="Reynolds-2023">{{cite thesis |id={{ProQuest|2832793885}} |last1=Reynolds |first1=Katrina |date=2023 |title=Fields of Gold: Designing the Golden State With the California Poppy, 1880–1930 }}{{pn|date=October 2023}}</ref>

=== Tongva (Garbrielino tribe) ===
In the 19th century, the California poppy held a dual identity, both as a botanical native and as a symbolic representation of California. It was crafted to embody the essence of a "true" Californian, celebrated and used predominantly by the white Californian community.<ref name="Reynolds-2023" /> The Native Daughters and Sons of the Golden West played a pivotal role in establishing the California poppy as a cultural icon.<ref name="Reynolds-2023" />

In contrast, the Tongva peoples of the San Gabriel Valley region recognized the California poppy by the term, ''Mekachaa.''<ref name="Reynolds-2023" /> Such indigenous communities interpret the Mekechaa as a plant relative, and actively resisted attempts to appropriate its existence through artistic community projects.<ref name="Reynolds-2023" /> In ''Waa'aka','' the final plant created by the Tongva's god of creation, ''Wiyot'', was the ''Island poppy'', described as "''golden as the sun, bringing beauty to the world''."<ref name="Reynolds-2023" />