Tree Poppy © Steve Junak

shrub

Description A stiff roundish shrub with brilliant yellow, cup-shaped flowers at ends of short branches or on long stalks in leaf axils.
Flowers: 1-2 1/2" (2.5-6.5 cm) wide; sepals 2, dropping off as flower opens; petals 4, broad; stamens many, short.
Leaves: 1-4" (2.5-10 cm) long, leathery, lanceolate, bluish green, stalk twisted so that flat sides of blade face sideways.
Height: 4-20' (1.2-6 m).
Flowering: April-June.

Habitat Dry slopes in chaparral.

Range Northern California south to Mexico.

Discussion Tree Poppy may be very common several years after a fire in chaparral. There is only one other species in the genus, Island Tree Poppy (D. harfordii), found on islands off the coast of southern California.