It's Tuesday. How the golden poppy became California's state flower. Plus, Los Angeles is a doughnut town. |
 | | Wildflowers aglow in Walker Canyon in Lake Elsinore.Daniel Dorsa for The New York Times |
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There is perhaps no better symbol of California than the glorious, golden poppy. |
The flower's satiny yellow-orange blooms evoke the state's abundant sunshine, orange groves and the gold rush that made it famous. It's hard not to be hypnotized by the bobbing beacons of golden light that glisten from roadway medians and that carpet entire valleys each spring, especially during this year's "super bloom." |
Walking through a state park, "your eyes immediately go to the poppy, even though there are all these lovely plants," said Char Miller, professor of environmental history at Pomona College. "I think it's the color, I think it's the almost joyousness with which it tosses its head — it's seductive." |
The golden poppy has been the official state flower for 120 years, the second state symbol California ever adopted. So how did it achieve such esteemed status? |
Golden poppies grow wild all over California, with a natural range that stretches across the West from sea level to 6,500 feet in altitude. Native people prized the flowers for food and medicine, boiling the plants to eat them or applying them as treatments for illnesses. |
The poppies' botanical name came in 1816, when the Prussian explorer Adelbert von Chamisso docked in the San Francisco Bay and spotted the golden blossoms blanketing hillsides around the Presidio of San Francisco. He gave them the Latin name Eschscholzia californica. |
The poppies were elevated further in 1890 when the California State Floral Society held an election to choose a state flower. At the time, states across the country, some of which had only recently been admitted to the Union, were adopting emblems to promote state pride. |
The society chose among the Matilija poppy, which resembles a giant sunny-side-up egg; the striking white mariposa lily; and, of course, the buttery gold California poppy, which smashed the competition in what was apparently an expected landslide: The San Francisco Call reported that the society's secretary already had a "handsome watercolor" of the flower ready to present to the group immediately after the vote. |
In 1903, Gov. George Pardee approved legislation making the poppy the state flower and, in recognition of Lemmon's efforts, gave her the bald-eagle quill he used to sign the bill, Brown said. |
Ever since, the California poppy has mesmerized those of us who live beside it. For me, the flower's magic comes from its velvety texture and impossible-to-describe hue. In "East of Eden," John Steinbeck describes the poppies as "not orange, not gold, but if pure gold were liquid and could raise a cream, that golden cream might be like the color of the poppies." (Early Spanish settlers called the poppies "copa de oro," or cup of gold.) |
Miller thinks the flower's appeal comes from its hardiness and ability to survive in an often drought-stricken region. The California poppy is a spot of beauty in a harsh landscape, he said. |
"Endurance is partly what draws people to it," Miller told me. "The poppy just rears up and goes, 'Look at me, I am gorgeous.'" |
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 | | Jim Wilson/The New York Times |
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- Another bank fails: Federal regulators seized First Republic Bank, based in San Francisco, and sold it to JPMorgan Chase in hopes of curbing a two-month banking crisis that has rattled the financial system.
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- Medi-Cal fraud: A Los Angeles plastic surgeon who was accused of defrauding California's Medicaid program of hundreds of thousand dollars will pay a roughly $500,000 settlement to the state, KTLA-TV reports.
- Fentanyl debate: California Democrats searching for solutions to fentanyl overdoses are caught between grieving families and communities that are still recovering from the state's failed war on drugs, The Sacramento Bee reports.
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- Child sex abuse: Los Angeles County has emerged in court filings as one of the biggest alleged institutional offenders of child sexual abuse, dating back to the 1950s, The Los Angeles Times reports.
- Owls' last big chance: Burrowing owls are essentially doomed if they migrate into the Los Angeles Basin. But the species could still be saved, The LAist reports.
- Incarcerated while disabled: A lawsuit against San Diego County and its Sheriff's Department seeks greater protections for incarcerated people who are disabled, The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
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- Mass shooting: Four people were killed in a shooting in a small Mojave Desert community Sunday night, The Los Angeles Times reports.
- Big Melt, big consequences: Experts say the spring and summer melting of the deep snowpack in the Sierra Nevada range will have significant ecological consequences for a host of native species, The Los Angeles Times reports.
- Community college transfers: A student admitted to C.S.U. Bakersfield as a community college transfer will have to pay $20,000 extra in tuition and fees to complete her degree after the university rejected most of her current credits, The Associated Press reports.
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- Access to sanitation: Berkeley will soon install its first 24-hour public restroom, at a cost of roughly $260,000. If it goes well, more facilities could follow, The Mercury News reports.
- Fifteen days of cold: A Saratoga woman endured 22 power outages during this year's unusually severe winter. The longest lasted more than two weeks, The Mercury News reports.
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 | | Sam Hodgson for The New York Times |
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"Historic and national sites here allow for a full day of learning for the whole family. I was particularly dazzled by the lively tide pools. All I could think the whole time was, 'This is what kids in California get to see for their field trips!' Educational rangers were around to tell us what we were seeing and how to safely enjoy them. Be on the lookout for octopus!" |
Tell us about your favorite places to visit in California. Email your suggestions to CAtoday@nytimes.com. We'll be sharing more in upcoming editions of the newsletter. |
 | | Maggie Shannon for The New York Times |
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And before you go, some good news |
Though Southern California is saturated with small, local doughnut chains and independent shops, new ones continue to pop up and some still find cult followings, the New York Times critic Tejal Rao writes. The ubiquity of doughnut vendors in Los Angeles feels magical, she says: "The real beauty of doughnuts in Los Angeles is that the second you want one, wherever you are in the city, an open shop seems to appear." |
Thanks for reading. I'll be back tomorrow. — Soumya |
Briana Scalia, Johnna Margalotti and Camille Baker contributed to California Today. You can reach the team at CAtoday@nytimes.com. |
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