PlantFiles: Coulter's Matilija Poppy, California Tree Poppy
Romneya coulteri

I planted this tree poppy in my Felton, CA yard 2 years ago and it is now 8 feet tall and 3 feet wide, and spreading more each year. I could not be more thrilled! It is my favorite plant and it is loaded with flower buds about to explode!! The most important thing when you plant this shrub is to make sure it has PERFECT drainage and LOTS of sun!! Plus don't overwater it.

I have not yet planted this but I intend to soon. I see many of them growing in my neighborhood (Santa Rosa, CA) and even on the sides of Highway 12, which I am sure they receive little/no water. I have a friend who's grown them in Portola Valley, CA also. And I know they grow outside the supermarket right next to the ocean in Gualala, CA. Again, I'm sure they get no water there and there's NO rain in the summer, just some fog.

This plant is getting to be fairly common around Monterey. I've seen it growing along the recreation trail in Monterey, at CSU Monterey Bay, and in the city of Marina.

The soil in each place tends to be pure sand, exposed to wind, and sun, and the plants don't receive any other care. If happy, they'll spread like monsters and grow very tall.

I bought several at Valley Hills Nursery in Carmel Valley a month ago. Mine haven't spread out yet, but they've definitely grown taller, and all of them have small flower buds developing. This is a gorgeous plant and if you have the right soil, snatch them up.

I found this plant growing under my wall from a neighbour's garden and after many failures got a root cutting to grow: it's the pride of my garden, two metres high and covered in those beautiful white crushed paper petals in summer. I could never get it to grow from seed, but I'll certainly try the tips I've read here.

For the record, Dublin is definitely not as warm (or dry, I suspect!) as California, but my Romneya certainly likes the climate here. It's rare here, though, I've only seen it in one other garden and even our Botanical Gardens in Dublin seems to be unsure where their plant is.

I have seeds. I have gotten seeds to germinate in the past (but I later killed the seedlings due to carelessness) by soaking them for a few hours in unleaded gasoline, removing them and letting them dry, then sowing them. The soak in a solvent removes the wax that prevents germination. I'm about to try again.

It sounds bizarre but various people have assured me that this works, and my experience squares with that. Not sure how well the plant will do here in north Florida: I had a potted one sent by mail and it didn't last long...overwatering? It didn't look in the best of health when it got here.

Have always liked the appearance of this wonderful flower.

SIZE: The plant is rather large and has a tendency to sprawl and produce tall stems (up to 9 feet tall) that may fall over. Spreads gradually by finger thick and fragile rizomes. I have this Planted in Fort Bragg, CA in transistional sandy soil, from a potted specimen. Have seen this in several locations around Southeast Portland, OR where I collect seeds.

CULTURE: Difficult, but possible, to culture by root cuttings (personally I have had no succcess in two attempts), but the SEEDS are ONLY likey to germinate in media treated with SMOKE. Nitrite from combustion products has been identified as the primary germ trigger; not heat or ash. Smoke treatment of sand or use of charcoal among others has been described. Fifteen minutes of smoldering, not hot fast files has been mentioned in the literature as a requirement.

CONTROL: Should be easy to control by spading the roots.

MEDICINAL: This poppy species is helpful for
> various minor afflictions. The tea or diluted tincture, as
> a drug analgesia, works well as a wash for skin pain and
> inflammation caused by an allergic reaction, chemical
> irritation, heat rash, or mild burns or sunburns. As an
> astringent, it is a quality antimicrobial, and can be used
> as a powder to help with more common skin fungi. Though
> the diluted tincture reputedly tastes horrible, it does
> inhibits microbial growth in the mouth, lessens gum
> sensitivity, and decreases plaque buildup (see recipes for
> a Matilija Poppy mouthwash). Painful and debilitating but
> not emergency-level bacterial gastroenteritis can be
> soothed with the tea or tincture, simultaneously helping to
> inhibit the bug, lessen the pain and cramps, and act as a
> mild sedative.

I first saw the Matilija Poppy in a Botanical Garden in Claremont Ca. Right away I fell in love with it. After having the sale girl in the gift shop print out some information for me on the flower I right away stopped by my local nursery in Santa Clarita and purchased a 5 gallon plant. I has numerous buds on it. However, I didn't realise until i got home that I closed the car door on one of the branches and broke one of the branches just below the poppy buds. I cut the branch just below the break to clean it up a bit. Does anyone know if this is ultimalty going to kill my Matilija Poppy? Or if there is anything I can do at this time to try to save it? Or should I just leave well enough alone? Advice would be appreciated.

11/19/04-6/13/06
I bought a 1-gal. three inch plant in north San Diego co at Las Pilatas. After 30 gals of water at planting and two and a half weeks it has two new leaves. I also soaked 100 seeds the same day.I soaked the seeds for 24 hours. I gathered dead Christmas tree branches and dried oak tree leaves. I placed ordinary California soil on a fine, wire mesh, flat ,bacon grease spatter stopper. In my fireplace I started a fire with the leaves and added pine branches. When fire died down to smolder I held the the soil over the smoke for 15 minutes. I added leaves and branches as needed to keep fire going but only smoked over a low, smoldering fire. When soil had cooled I placed a coffee filter on the soil and placed the seeds on top. I covered with another coffee filter and sprinkled smoked soil on top of 2nd filter.I dampened with drops of water from an eye dropper till wet. I covered with plastic wrap and placed outside to expose seeds to temperature fluctuations in November. Seeds began to sprout 2 1/2 weeks later. I planted all ten seed today.There are more seeds beginning to sprout.
5/21/06
I was able to transplant one seedling into the garden. It was doing well until my "gardener" hit it with Roundup. :( Matillaja Poppy from a pot is healthy and spreading. It is 4-5 feet wide now. I have tried to propagate from suckers two times last winter--no luck. I am going to try the seeds again but this time I sprinkled them on damp soil in a big pot. Smoked some potting soil as I did 1 1/2 years ago. Covered the seeds with smoked soil, watered and covered in plastic. Set outside. I should know in 3 weeks if they have germinated.

6/13/06 It has been three weeks and it looks like I have about 20 out of 100 seedlings so far. When the seedlings started poking out of the soil I took off the covering let them get a little sun each day. Moistened top of soil lightly to prevent the seeds from drying out but not much b/c overwatering kills them.

According to what I was told, this plant is native to two relatively small disjunct areas in the U.S. - in Ventura County, CA near Ojai, and in Riverside County, CA. In the wild, the seeds will only germinate after a fire, though the plant spreads freely from runners. There are a couple stands that where planted at what is now Malibu Creek State Park and they are very popular flowers with park visitors.

The smell of the flower is rather strange, kind of like rotten fruit.

I have never tried growing this plant at home. I have read that it is too invasive for the average home garden.

When I looked up "Matilija Poppy" I thought I'd find a few notes from the Ojai Valley. We have many of these poppies growing wild around here -- but maybe they are a little different...my map calls them Romneya trichocalyx -- not coulteri. The pictures look the same, though. We have a creek called "Matilija", as well as a canyon, and other areas too. I have some growing in my yard on a little hill, and they have spread out nicely. They are beautiful flowers and not hard to take care of.

Thrilled to report this plant is growing happily in various locations in Ashland, OR, zone 7. Hard to get it to thrive from runners...7 out of 10 dug up in the fall and potted failed to make it. I have been told by gardeners on the Oregon Coast not to disturb the potted cuttings for 5-6 years! It's not available at local nurseries so I will continue to experiment.
First saw the Matilija Poppy 35 years ago in Mendocino California near the Art Center. It was a mature specimen and it took my breath away.

What Gardenfiend wrote is correct. The Matilija Poppy (Romneya) is known by that name and its flowers are white. The California Tree or Bush Poppy (Dendromecon) blossoms are yellow. The California State flower is Eschscholtzia (not a typo) californica, with three varieties, one of which has three types - talk about hair splitting! It is a relatively small plant with yellow to orange flowers. In San Diego county alone there are 7 species of Eschscholtzia. Info from Beauchamp's A Flora of SD County.

Oh, do I love this poppy, first saw it growing in Berkeley, Ca, and went nuts. I found out how well it grew in Santa Barbara, Ca., so my husband and I went to the Botanical Garden sale there. They were all out, and I was so sad. I just bought my very first here, We have a great nursery who will always do special order and it only cost me $17 for 2 1gallon plants. One branch is laying flat, and is sending up new branches from its nodes, it looks like I will have a few flowers this season, and I can't wait. I realize how large it can get, but it can be transplanted via cuttings according to the Horticulture lab at UC Berkeley, one lady said she had them all over her yard. The burning of seeds should work well, I could'nt do that where I lived in Southern Ca in Chino Hills, I could of started a fire. Everywhere I see one, I just go crazy! I hope it does well here, We do get weather in the 20's in winter.

We just moved to an established garden on Vancouver Island, near the sea. We have a large specimen, about 6' tall and 5' around. It just began blooming (mid-June). The nursery owner in town says it is rare here and that it would be hard to replace. I need to move it, but will try to take the babies into pots first, to see if they survive, before I try to move the mother. It seems to do well in our mild, wet winter, dry summer climate that we've had this year, with no extra water after March.

To the best of my knowledge, the common name for Romneya is the Matilija poppy.

Plant suckers easily, can be very invasive. Reduce water in summer to limit suckers. Dig up rooted suckers to get more plants. or take a thick root cutting and try that. Seed difficult to start. In fall, make seeds germinate by mixing them with damp potting soil in non-flammable flat(or line flat with strong foil), burn pine needles on top of flat for 1/2 hour, then water flat and maybe they will sprout. Really, not a joke.