Well, this is the first time I've captured a wild growing R. coulteri. I prefer calling it the fried egg poppy. Range maps from Calflora.org, Jepson Interchange, Consortium of California Herbaria, and CalAcademy do not show it to be present in Monterey County. While it's considered a native CA plant, I suspect it truly is only native to Santa Barbara County and those east and south of there, if even that. Indeed, what I saw here was just above a horse stable that had profuse blooms of matilijas in its landscaping. I suspect this batch was a garden escapee. It's plants like this that make me question the definition of native and how that applies to native plant nurseries. For better pictures, see my post series on fried eggs.
2 comments:
I love these...finally got a good specimen going in our front yard.
Are they tall, Janet? Before long, you may not be able to see the front of your house through the jungle of fried eggs.
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