Witnessed by: Western
California poppy (Eschscholzia californica), of the Papaveraceae family. Delicate annual or short-lived perennial with feathery blue-green leaves and silky orange cup-flowers; native range: grassy slopes and open ground of California and the western United States. Globally recognized as golden poppy, cup of gold in English. The part used is whole flowering herb. Ferny grey-green herb with orange sap and a bland, faintly bitter taste.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
CALIFORNIA POPPY
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- California poppy
- Scientific name
- Eschscholzia californica Cham.
- Family
- Papaveraceae
Form
- Part used
- whole flowering herb
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Western
- bitter
Temperature
- Western
- cool
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Western
- nervous system · nerves
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Western
- sedative, mild hypnotic, anxiolytic, antispasmodic, analgesic
Cautions
Contraindications: avoid in pregnancy; caution when driving or operating machinery
Toxicity: low; the isoquinoline alkaloids are far milder than those of opium and non-addictive
Interactions
- Western
- sedatives / CNS depressants: additive sedative and hypnotic effect
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