"Eschscholzia californica" was the first named species of the genus "Eschscholzia", named by the German botanist Adelbert von Chamisso after the Baltic German botanist Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz, his friend and colleague on Otto von Kotzebue’s scientific expedition to California and the greater Pacific circa 1810 aboard the Russian ship "Rurik".California poppy is highly variable, with over 90 synonyms.