148/366: California Poppy with Hat

Have you ever seen a California Poppy flower as it's beginning to open? It's a rare sight to catch this with just about any kind of poppy, as they open rapidly when the time is right. I managed to find this cap still in place and got some nice pictures before it fell away and the flower opened.

Do you know what this bud covering is called? It occurred to me that I didn't know, so I did a search for "California Poppy anatomy" and I got my answer! "Fused together into a dunce-cap shaped structure called a calyptra, the sepals fall off as the flower opens."

This is the wonderful anatomy graphic I found, and here is the illustrator's page, which links to the book if you are interested.