Tuesday 15 February 2005

Meconopsis pseudointegrifolia - Photos In The Wild

4600m. Da Xue Shan Yunnan. Compact plants at higher altitudes show tendency to 3 leaf veins. 4300m. Da Xue Shan typical long style and veined leaves.
4000m. Da Xue Shan. Leggy long styled plants often grow in shrub as protection. Rong Chu. SE Tibet. Probably one of the parents of M x Harleyana (q.v.) which Fred Hunt found. Fred Hunt.
Hong Shan 4,000m in Yunnan. Pale yellow flowers and the leaf veining tending towards 3 veined. David Rankin. Hong Shan 4,000m. David Rankin.
Hong Shan 4,000m Seed capsule to show thick style that is elongated but in some ways intermediate between the flat stigma without a style in M. integrifolia. These two species are clearly very variable. David Rankin. Hong Shan 4,000m. Random veining on the leaf but it is clear that this is largely an altitude effect with highest altitude plants with 3 thick wind resistant veins and is not a valid criterion to separate the two species - if indeed they are not a single highly variable taxon as Taylor decided after looking at much herbarium material. David Rankin.

Shika Shan, 2009. Typical flower but perhaps showing why a long style protruding from the flower and a downward facing flower have evolved to allow pollination in a wet climate. Perhaps the upward open flowers of M. integrifolia are for drier climates. All the intermediates between the two species being selected by altitude and average rainfall. Hilary Birks.