Meconopsis quintuplinervia - Photos In The Wild

A lovely habitat image of Farrer's Harebell poppy in the wild - a superb perennial garden plant - difficult from seed. Martin Walsh.	Flower showing dark purple patches adjacent to ovary which are meant to be unique to M. sinomaculata. Just possible this is a hybrid (which do occur but not named yet) or else this pigmentation is related to something like soil properties. Daban Shan (on ledges), Qinghai. Hilary and John Birks.
Stone Mountain, Quinghai, 4,100m. A superb group of flowers all opening together on this very desirable perennial species. Hilary and John Birks.	Matang Pass, Sichuan, N of Miyalou, 3,900m. Hilary and John Birks.

Meconopsis quintuplinerva

Taxonomy

A mauve/purple polycarpic Chinese species centred north of Sichuan flowering from basal scapes with grey anthers and somewhat pendent flowers. Hybrids occur (M x Cookei) with M. punicea in wild.

Cultivation

A reliable perennial plant of variable colour and size which can be regularly divided when happy and often produces underground rhizomes. Seed (if you can ever find it) rarely germinates and is not often set in cultivation (but unlikely with single clones that usually are in gardens) The little wild seed I have had has also not germinated. Much wild seed is collected under-ripe and this may be the reason. However given the apparent more complex dormancy of the related M. punicea it would certainly be worth trying sowing immediately or as soon after harvest as possible.

Map Location

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Meconopsis qinghaiensis - Photos In The Garden

Meconopsis qinghaiensis - Photos In The Wild

Meconopsis qinghaiensis

Taxonomy

M. horridula relative from NW China. This has small pale unlobed leaves with no dark pigment and pale spines. The plant is only about 8cms high with blue flowers on separate scapes with upward facing flowers and the petals reflexed back. This is a high altitude plant (5,000 metres) from Qinghai.

Cultivation

Map Location

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Meconopsis punicea - Photos In The Garden

	Flowering as a biennial will stand close planting.
Good growth by late October. Planted out August.	Another example of a species being grown to a high standard north of the arctic circle in Tromso, Norway. Finn Haugli.
A rather attractive mutation in a Japanese garden in the island of Sapporo. Variation in this species is actually rare in cultivation - one can always hope for a white one! Tetsuo Nakazato.	4 plants of this colour variation occured in my garden in 2009. This is not M. x Cookei. I do not grow M. quintuplinervia but I suppose a hybrid with something else is possible. Shape and structure iidentical to M. punicea, remains to be seen if it is fertile. Not particularly attractive and care needed to stop contaminating normal red flowers.
This species typical hangs down with closed flowers but in warm humid weather it does open up after about 3 days. At this stage much pollen is usually shed and bees would pollinate it. However in cool or dry weather they can remain closed and hand pollinating at all times is sensible to obtain a seed set.	There have been suggestions that this species is perennial in the wild - this needs more careful investigation since in the garden they can look perennial. The plant above has finished flowering and set seed, the root is rather dead but there are new side shoots. Experience says that even if these are rooted in mist they are hard to grow on and where they do succeed it is with a poor flower in late autumn.

Meconopsis punicea - Photos In The Wild

Gongen La. Martin Walsh.	Gongen La. Martin Walsh.
Very large flower at Miyalou, Zhegu Shan, Sichuan. Colour is normally very uniform (at least in cultivation) but variation has been reported in the wild. Harry Jans.	Wonderful packaging of a very large flower in a small bud. Wolong, Sichuan 4110m. Harry Jans.
Flower designed to shed rain but difficult for a pollinating insect. In the garden without hand pollinating they often do not set seed. Maybe they have a specialized pollinating insect in the wild. Wolong. Harry Jans.	Wolong, Sichuan, 4110m. Harry Jans.
Lovely habitat shot, re-inforcing the image of prayer flags in the wind. Miyalou, Zhegu Shan, Sichuan. 4050m. Harry Jans.	Huanglong, Sichuan. 3950m. Hybrids occur in the garden between M. integrifolia and M. quintuplinervia (M. x Finlayorum) but they have not been recorded between M. integrifolia and M. punicea although - as here - they occur commonly together. The webmaster has many times failed to make the cross in the garden. Harry Jans.
Another image of a very large flower taken by Harry Jans. Until recently nearly all of this species in cultivation were descendants of Peter Cox's collection many years ago and all these flowered - as did subsequent generations - with relatively uniform flowers of a smaller size. Recent collections show this species to be more variable and maybe even perennial in some locations. These variations should be looked for in the wild. I still dream of a white one!