Eschscholtzia: the california poppy that fights anxiety and insomnia

The California Poppy, a petite annual herbaceous plant, earns its name from its origin in the United States. It reproduces through seeds and thrives in various soil types. Flourishing in light, well-drained, nutrient-poor soil with a good percentage of limestone and sand, it particularly enjoys basking in full sunlight. Found predominantly along coastal areas in sunny and arid locations.

Also known as Eschscholzia, this plant boasts a branched stem, reaching 20-30 cm in height, glaucous green, deeply incised leaves, and solitary flowers with 2 deciduous sepals and 4 free yellow-orange petals, often intensely colored. Abundant stamens and a unilocular ovary mature into a 7-10 cm dehiscent capsule, splitting into two valves, housing very small reticulated seeds.

Beyond its visual appeal, Eschscholzia is cultivated as an ornamental plant.

Harvested during its balsamic period, corresponding to peak flowering in summer and extending into autumn, this medicinal plant includes the flowering aerial parts and the root in its drug composition. The aerial parts contain phenolic glycosides, pavinic-type isoquinoline alkaloids (escholtzine, californidine), proto-pionic (allocryptopine, protopine), and benzophenanthridine (sanguinarine, chelerythrine). The root shares the same alkaloids as the aerial parts but also includes carotenoids, flavonoids, and cyanogenic glycosides.

Like all Papaveraceae, Eschscholzia proves beneficial for sleep disorders, anxiety, restlessness, migraines, hyperkinesis, and even digestive disorders.

It can be consumed as a mother tincture, dry extract, or tea, often combined with other plants such as Passionflower and Valerian.

FUN FACT:

The name’s etymology derives from the plant’s species origin and, for the genus, from the name of the Russian botanist and entomologist Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz (1793–1831).

He was of German origin, born in the city of Dorpat, then part of the Russian Empire (now Tartu, Estonia), he studied medicine at the city’s university, serving as an assistant to Professor C.F. von Ledebour and later as a professor of anatomy (from 1819).

Before his appointment in Dorpat, Eschscholtz participated in a circumnavigation of the globe sponsored by the Russian Emperor, under the command of Captain Otto von Kotzebue. Scientists Eschscholtz and Adelbert von Chamisso were tasked with collecting natural history specimens.

The expedition ship, Rurick, departed Kronstadt on June 30, 1815, stopping at the Canary Islands in September before crossing the Atlantic to Santa Catarina, Brazil. The ship passed Cape Horn in January 1816 and reached Petropovlavsk-Kamchatka in July.

From there, it continued to the Bering Strait and headed south to California. Eschscholtz conducted fruitful explorations here, and Kotzebue published a three-volume account of the journey, including reports from Chamisso and Eschscholtz. Their collections were published in the journals Horae physicae Berolinenses (1820), Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburg (1826), and Linnaea (between 1826 and 1836).

Eschscholtz’s botanical collections from the California period were published as “Descriptions of the Plants of New California, Further Analyses of the Flowers” (1826). The California Poppy, Eschscholzia californica Cham., discovered during the Rurick voyage, was named in his honor by Chamisso. In return, Eschscholtz named Lupinus chamissonis Eschsch. in honor of his friend.

ANJA LATINI

Registered herbalist with RNEP no. GLT0018S