Showing results for California poppy. Search instead for California's property.

California poppy

American

noun

a plant, Eschscholtzia californica, of the poppy family, having feathery bluish foliage and showy, orange-yellow flowers: the state flower of California.

California poppy British

noun

Also called: eschscholzia. eschscholtzia. a papaveraceous plant, Eschscholtzia californica, of the Pacific coast of North America, having yellow or orange flowers and finely divided bluish-green leaves

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of California poppy

An Americanism dating back to 1890–95

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Also, the California poppy is just one of several types of poppy in the state.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 5, 2024

In parallel, Werner plans to monitor how key plants, including Gary oak, buckbrush, California poppy, and yarrow, respond to different planting densities on nearly 100 plots.

From Science Magazine • Oct. 18, 2023

In the Bay Area, it was the California poppy.

From New York Times • May 15, 2023

This feels strange and incorrect, because in California, it is California poppy season.

From Slate • Apr. 3, 2023

On the far side of the valley the sloping hills are covered with that most exquisite flower, the California poppy, its countless millions of golden blossoms fairly covering the earth.

From Byways Around San Francisco Bay by Hutchinson, William E.

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023