Plant portraits

These pages are under development and are being added to as time permits.

(For a quick full list of all pages in the plant portraits section please click here.)

This section has been been divided under three main headings.

1. Big perennial blue poppy species and hybrids in cultivation
   
   
2. Species in the wild
   
   
3. Other species and hybrids in cultivation (under development)

With reference to 2. above, to help in building up an informative pictorial library, we would be pleased to receive offers from readers of photographs of species growing in the wild, to be considered for addition to the site. As yet, we still do not have any photographs of many of the species. If you are able to help in this way, please contact us at plantmatters@meconopsis.org.

2. Species in the wild

This sub-section is largely concerned with the species of Meconopsis as they grow in the wild. There are in the order of 50 plus species of Meconopsis, many of which are not in cultivation. Below is a list of known species arranged alphabetically, but another way to organise them is in a classification that seeks to reflect evolutionary relationships. The classification that is currently still in use is that of George Taylor's of 1934. See supplementary page, Classification of Meconopsis species.

The genus is clearly in a state of active evolution and the boundaries between species in certain groups of closely related taxa are not easy to determine. The complex taxonomy is being researched by Dr Chris Grey-Wilson for a new monograph on the genus. As he publishes articles with revisions of various groups of plants, ahead of the full monograph, these revisions are being followed in this site (see relevant references). Three quarters of a century of further exploration and research in the wild since Taylor's time, is, needless to say, resulting in these revisions and additions to his classic work, but, for the present, it is still a very useful working frame-work.

In this section we have attempted to be as accurate in naming as possible, but there are probably errors, and there will undoubtedly be changes in the future, plus new species to be added (comments would be welcome).

In the following list of Meconopsis species, links to the relevant pages are, of course, provided only where we have pictures and text currently available. Links will increase as we develop the section. Details of sources of the names of the species in this list are given beneath.

Contributors
We are grateful to the plant enthusiasts who have given us permission to use their photographs in this sub-section (see supplementary page Contributors). The photographers' names and copyright status are also given on the individual images. We welcome the offer of further photographs (contact: plantmatters@meconopsis.org).

aculeata
argemonantha
baileyi (betonicifolia of hort.)
bella
betonicifolia
cambrica
chankheliensis †
chelidonifolia
delavayi
dhwojii
discigera
florindae
forrestii
ganeshensis †
georgei
gracilipes
grandis
henrici var. henrici
henrici var. psilonomma
impedita

lancifolia var. lancifolia
lancifolia var. concinna
latifolia
longipetiolata
lyrata
napaulensis
neglecta
oliverana
paniculata
pinnatifolia
primulina
pseudovenusta
punicea
quintuplinervia
regia
robusta
sherriffii
simikotensis †
simplicifolia
sinuata
sino-maculata †
speciosa
staintonii †
superba
taylori
tibetica †
torquata
venusta
violacea
wallichii
wallichii †var. fusco-purpurea
wilsoni subsp. wilsoni †
wilsoni subsp. australis †
wumungensis
zangnanensis

Closely related:
   horridula var. horridula
   horridula var. racemosa
   prattii
   rudis

Closely related:
   integrifolia subsp. integrifolia
   integrifolia subsp lijiangensis
   pseudointegrifolia
                        subsp. pseudointegrifolia
   pseudointegriolia subsp. robusta
   pseudointegrifolia subsp. daliensis

† Recently described

This list was compiled using "Poppies -The poppy family in the wild and in cultivation" (revised edition 2000) by Christopher Grey-Wilson and from articles by the same author in a). Curtis's Botanical Magazine entitled "The true identity of Meconopsis napaulensis", Vol 23 (2006), pp176-209, b). The Plantsman entitled "A new blue poppy from western China" New series Vol 1 (2002), 221-227 and c). The Alpine Gardener Vol. 74, (2006), pp. 212-225 entitled "A new Meconopsis from Tibet".

(Photographs by Toshio Yoshida)

Another relevant website on species of Meconopsis, "Meconopsis World - A Visual Reference", (meconopsisworld.co.uk) has recently been established by Dr James Cobb, author "Meconopsis" (1989).

This is the end of section 2, for other sections of Plant Portraits, please click on one of the links

1. Big perennial blue poppy species and hybrids in cultivation
2. Species growing in the wild
3. Other species and hybrids in cultivation (under development)