© 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 torquata and pinnatifolia
Theses two species are two of five placed in a separate sub-genus Discogyne. The five 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 ).
M. torquata occurs on the Tibetan plateau in south-central Tibet near to Lhasa, in the hills to the west and north. It does not experience the heavy rainfall of the monsoon areas which affect the other species. It has not been seen in recent years, although it was briefly and unsatisfactorily in cultivation for a while many decades ago.
M. pinnatifolia was first described in 1979. It is native to north central Nepal. There is a good photograph of it in "The Alpine Plants of China" (Science Press, Beijing, 1982) edited by Zhang Jingwei.
As yet, we do not have photographs of M. torquata or M. pinnatifolia. Any offers of pictures would be very welcome should any readers have reached such out-of-the-way places.