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Papaveraceae
Matilija Poppy
Romneya coulteri
Boldness, freedom, purity, wildness.
- Family
- Papaveraceae
- Genus
- Romneya
- Native to
- Southern California, Baja California
- Bloom season
- Late Spring, Summer
- Type
- Herbaceous perennial
- Height
- 1.5–2.5 m
- Sunlight
- Full sun
- Soil
- Sharply drained
- Water
- Very low; drought-tolerant
- Hardiness
- 7–10
- Lifespan
- Long-lived perennial
Did you know
- Matilija poppies have the largest flowers of any native California wildflower — up to 9 inches (23 cm) across, with snowy white petals that look like crumpled tissue paper.
- They're nicknamed 'fried egg flower' because the bright golden-yellow center surrounded by white petals looks exactly like a sunny-side-up egg.
- The plant is famously hard to start but nearly impossible to kill once established — it spreads aggressively by deep rhizomes that can travel under sidewalks and emerge years later.
- Matilija poppies are fire-followers in their native chaparral, often blooming most spectacularly the year after a wildfire.
- The genus is named after Thomas Romney Robinson, a 19th-century Irish astronomer and friend of botanist Thomas Coulter who collected the first specimens.
Color meanings
White
Untamed grace