Very Popular, satisfying for calming effect. A mild sedative tea. Works very well. With some similar alkaloids, California Poppy has the reputation of being a non-addictive alternative to the opium poppy, though it is less powerful.
California poppy or Eschscholtzia Californica has finely cut leaves and bright orange, yellow, pink, or red flowers.
Like a golden blanket, orange and yellow poppy blossoms once covered the mountains of coastal California, so impressing Spanish explorers that they named the region the Land of Fire. Indeed, before development dimmed their luster, the flowered hills shone so brightly that sailors far out at sea used them as beacons to shape their course. Today this poppy is California's state flower.
Like many other members of the poppy family, the California poppy contains sedative alkaloids in its sap. Indian women employed California poppy to charm unresponsive lovers, though this was considered a crime and, if detected, would result in the woman's expulsion from the tribe.
Today some Californians of Spanish heritage cook the plant in olive oil to make a hair tonic that, they say, makes the hair grow thick and shiny. Dormidera, "the drowsy one," is the name they give this flower that, like any true Californian, worships the sun, closing up tightly at dark.
Although California poppy is closely related to the opium poppy, it has a markedly different effect. California poppy is not a narcotic. In fact, rather than disorientating the user, it tends to balance functions.
Ingredients: California poppy. |
