© 2004-2009 The Meconopsis Group
The Meconopsis Group
The species of Meconopsis
(Photographs mostly taken in the wild)
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(The enlarged picture will open in a new window in which pictures can often be further enlarged by dragging the bottom right corner of the window and/or by hovering over the picture and using the expand/magnify button which appears, depending on your browser.) - George Taylor's Classification of Meconopsis species may be helpful.
- Figures in parentheses in the text refer to the pictures. For details of the photographers see Contributors.
Meconopsis simikotensis
The species M. simikotensis is one of five placed in a separate sub-genus Discogyne. They are distinguished from all other species by possessing a flat disc on top of the ovary. Full details of the sub-genus were given in an article by Chris Grey-Wilson in 2006. (Full reference in Discogyne ).
In his article of 2006 referred to above, Chris Grey-Wilson described this new species using the excellent field notes and herbarium material collected by Stainton, Sykes and Williams. It is closely related to M. tibetica and M. discigera. It differs from M. tibetica in its relatively small, blue, purple or mauve flowers and in the shape of the stylar disc, and it differs from M. discigera in possessing entire leaves and leafy stems, and in the presence of a capitate rather than linear stigma. This attractive species grows in the far west of Nepal, near Simikot and it might prove easier in cultivation than M. discigera as it occurs at lower altitudes. The picture shown here, taken by George Smith in the 1970s, has only very recently (2009) come to light and was not available to Chris Grey-Wilson when he wrote the description.
M. simikotensis
Simikot, far W. Nepal,
Photographer: George Smith
many years go