Eschscholzia minutiflora

Taxobox
name = "Eschscholzia minutiflora"

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image_width = 210px
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Magnoliopsida
ordo = Ranunculales
familia = Papaveraceae
genus = "Eschscholzia"
species = "E. minutiflora"
binomial = "Eschscholzia minutiflora"
binomial_authority = S.Wats.

"Eschscholzia minutiflora" is a species of poppy known by the common name pygmy poppy. It is native to the deserts of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. This wildflower is an annual herb growing from a patch of segmented leaves with divided, rounded leaflets. The thin, erect or nodding stems may be very short or up to 35 centimeters tall. They bear small poppy flowers with petals varying in size from only a few millimeters long or up to two and a half centimeters in length, and bright yellow in color, sometimes with orange spotting. The fruit is a capsule 3 to 6 centimeters long containing tiny brown to black seeds.

The species contains three subspecies:
*"Eschscholzia minutiflora" subsp. "minutiflora" has the smallest flowers (petals 0.3-1.0 cm long), the broadest range, and n = 18 chromosomes.
*"Eschscholzia minutiflora" subsp. "covillei" (Greene) C.Clark has flowers of intermediate size (petals 0.6-1.8 cm long), n = 12 chromosomes, and is found in the Mojave Desert.
*"Eschscholzia minutiflora" subsp. "twisselmannii" C.Clark has the largest flowers (petals 1.0-2.6 cm long), n = 6 chromosomes, and occurs in the El Paso and Rand mountains of the Mojave Desert.

External links

* [http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?5547,5568,5577 Jepson Manual Treatment]
* [http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=ESMI USDA Plants Profile]
* [http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&where-taxon=Eschscholzia+minutiflora Photo gallery]