DefinitionThis section has been translated automatically.
The California poppy belongs to the poppy family, but should not be confused with the opium poppy as its effect on the central nervous system is different. The annual, up to 60 cm tall herbaceous plant with a deep taproot has rosette-shaped leaves up to 14 cm long and bright yellow to yellow-orange petals. It flowers from July to September. The seeds, which are up to 1.8 mm long, are contained in the 10 cm long pods and ripen from August to September.
All parts of the plant are poisonous, the roots contain alkaloids, mainly allocryptopine in the roots and californidine in the herb. Other ingredients are allocryptopine and escholzine, protopine, chelerythrine, flavonoids, e.g. rutoside.
Native Americans used the leaves of the Californian poppy as a sleep aid and sedative, but also as a mild painkiller.
Phytotherapeutic
The herb of the plant is used phytotherapeutically, see under Eschscholzia californica Cham., herba
HMPC monograph: Traditional-use: mild symptoms of mental stress, to support sleep.
Commission E: Negative monograph, no verifiable data at the time
Commission D: Positive monograph for the freshly flowering plant: sleep disorders and restlessness
