ICONS

As Southern California explodes with spring hues all but forgotten during four years of drought, one color is noticeable in its absence: gold. The California poppy is maintaining a low profile despite the recent downpours. And no one seems to know why. Last year was a banner one for California’s state flower: For two months, a spread of the golden-orange blooms shimmered over acres of desert floor in the Antelope Valley. This winter’s rains inspired hope of another golden season, but the poppies have had other ideas.

“You just don’t predict ‘em,” expounds Milton Stark, author of the 160-page “Flower Watcher’s Guide to Spring: Blooming Wildflowers of the Antelope Valley.”

Theories about the lack of poppies range from sheep-grazing to strip farming to early frost. Although the poppy has been the state flower since 1903, there has been a surprising lack of poppy research. Enter Bob Nakamura, an assistant biology professor at Cal State L.A., who is trying to figure out what makes the poppies grow. Nakamura thinks that he will find the key by studying insects that carry poppy pollen. But he hesitates to contradict other theories. “The research,” he says, “just isn’t there.”