Found in Mexico and California, Romneya is either 1 lone species and a few varieties or couple of similar but distinct species! Either way, they generally grow in dry canyons, but can tolerate a range of soils and conditions, in a sheltered spot. It belongs to the poppy family, Papaveraceae. Romneya is named after Thomas Romney Robinson, an Irish astronomer.
Despite the fact that poppy flowers produce little or nothing in the way of nectar, they do produce abundant pollen which is eaten for example by hoverflies and beetles, and supplied by honeybees to their larvae as a protein-rich food. With its pompom of multitudinous stamens is the pollen-plant par excellence.