About Arctomecon merriamii Coville
Arctomecon merriamii Coville is a species of poppy that has several common names: desert bearpoppy, white bearpoppy, and great bearclaw poppy. It is native to the Mojave Desert of California and Nevada, as well as parts of southwestern Utah. This plant is a taprooted perennial herb that grows stout, waxy stems between 20 and 50 centimeters tall. Hairy pale green leaves with rounded teeth grow around the base of the plant. The inflorescence at the tip of each stem holds a single white poppy flower. This flower has six petals that can reach up to 4 centimeters in length, and green sepals covered in long white hairs. Its fruit is a capsule up to 3.5 centimeters long that holds many tiny seeds. Botanist Frederick Vernon Coville was the first person to identify this plant. He named it in honor of naturalist Clinton Hart Merriam, who accompanied Coville on the Death Valley Expedition. This expedition was the first in a series of trips funded by the US Congress to map the phytogeography of flora and the fauna of the United States.
