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Eschscholzia lobbii is the only member of the genus other than the California poppy to have a legitimate vernacular name: "Frying-pans". These small annuals are scapose, with the leaves clustered at the base and the bright yellow flowers on long naked pedicels. The petals are sometimes slightly angled at their tips, rather than rounded. The leaves have longer, finer divisions than those of other species, and are more of a grass green.
Eschscholzia lobbii occurs sporadically across the Sacramento Valley, where it is most common on the Sierra Nevada side, and along the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. In the Sierra Nevada foothills it is generally found at a lower elevation that E. caespitosa.
Although I have seen seeds for sale under the correct name, the persistence of the name "E. caespitosa" for this species in cultivation suggests that all the cultivars under this name are derived from the original cultivated material.
Technical description
PLANT annual, 0.5-1.5 dm tall, erect, glabrous. LEAVES basal, terminal divisions acute, glabrous. INFLORESCENCE solitary. FLOWERS erect in bud; receptacle conic; calyx acute, glabrous; petals 0.7-1.2 cm long, yellow. FRUITS 4-7 cm long. SEEDS 1.4-2 mm diam, spherical to ellipsoidal, bur-like, brown. 2n=12. Open fields and grasslands, 0-600 m. Great Valley, Sierra Nevada foothills.
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