Arctomecon merriamii facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Arctomecon merriamii |
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| Scientific classification | |
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Arctomecon
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| Species: |
merriamii
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Arctomecon merriamii is a special type of poppy flower. People call it by fun names like desert bearpoppy or white bearpoppy. It's also known as the great bearclaw poppy. You can find this unique plant growing in the Mojave Desert. This desert stretches across parts of California and Nevada.
Meet the Desert Bearpoppy
What Does the Desert Bearpoppy Look Like?
This plant is a taprooted perennial herb. This means it lives for many years and has a main root that grows straight down. It grows strong, waxy stems. These stems can be 20 to 50 centimeters tall. That's about 8 to 20 inches!
Around the bottom of the plant, you'll see its leaves. They are pale green and a bit hairy. These leaves have rounded edges, almost like small teeth.
At the top of each stem, you'll find the flowers. Each plant has one beautiful white poppy flower. It has six petals that can be up to 4 centimeters long. That's about 1.5 inches! The green sepals, which protect the flower bud, are covered in long, white hairs.
After the flower blooms, it forms a fruit. This fruit is a capsule, like a small container. It can be up to 3.5 centimeters long. Inside this capsule are many tiny seeds.
How Was This Poppy Discovered?
A botanist named Frederick Vernon Coville was the first to identify this plant. A botanist is a scientist who studies plants. He named the plant after his friend, Clinton Hart Merriam. Merriam was a naturalist, someone who studies nature.
Merriam joined Coville on an important trip. This trip was called the Death Valley Expedition. It was one of the first big trips funded by the United States government. The goal was to map out all the plants and animals in the country. This helped scientists understand where different species lived.
