Unfamiliar Cousins

We're all familiar with bright orange California poppies, whether we live in California, or have grown them in our back yard back east. The same is true for the many types of Salvia; we're all familiar with the aromatic Sage we use in our cooking, as well as the many bedding varieties. And as for milkweed, well forget about it. Milkweed is either an annoying weed that ruins the flow of your lawn (and shame on you for feeling like that), or it is must-have treasure in the butterfly garden.

But ya know, sometimes the fruit falls a little further from the tree; each of these familiar faces has a cousin or two that is, if not a secret, then certainly something the family doesn't talk about. Having crossed paths with some of these relatives for the first time, blooming as early as February no less, I have to think they have been unfairly overlooked. The three species I have in mind are Tree Poppies, Black Sage and Climbing Milkweed, are all new wildflowers to me, and I would be remiss in my moral obligation to share them with you.

Tree Poppies ( Dendromecon rigida) are a surprising thing. They are evergreen, and normally grow to about 6 feet tall. The surprise comes when you first notice they are festooned with large familiar poppy flowers. The flowers are bright yellow, and get up to 2 inches across.

A shrub ... make that a tree, with poppy flowers. How weird is that?

Tree Poppies are native to California and Mexico, growing in chaparral on dry slopes. Like so many plants with bright yellow flowers - no matter the family - they prefer the sun.

Island Tree Poppy (D. harfordii), found on islands off the coast of California, is the only other species in the genus.

Climbing Milkweed (Sarcostemma cynanchoides) is weird in a different way. Unlike most milkweeds, this one is a vine, a twisty, serpentine vine, with long twining stems. It's kind of like a cross between a morning glory and milkweed; it's a Frankenstein's botanical experiment gone interestingly awry.

The flowers give it away. While the five petals are not reflexed like those of Ascelpias species, there is a central hood reminiscent of its milkweed cousins.

The vines can get up to 10 feet long, often draping themselves over nearby bushes and trees. It is mostly a desert plant, but can be found on dry plains and in brush near the coast. It ranges from southern California down to Mexico, and east through southern Utah, Oklahoma and Texas.

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