The Genus Meconopsis - Blue poppies and their relatives

There is no doubt that Meconopsis is one of the most distinctive and beautiful members of the poppy family, Papaveraceae. Distributed across the Sino-Himalaya region from Pakistan to India, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Tibet and western China, many of the species have a great deal of horticultural as well as botanical appeal, and yet there is no single major work on this plant group. The first monograph of the genus Meconopsis was written in 1934 by George Taylor, later Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The Himalayan Blue Poppy is a bit of a perennial diva. Spotted in the wild, it turns heads and catches reverent attention, but it is also notoriously fickle, requiring careful cultivation and often refusing to flourish in most climates below 10 000 feet. Together with the other colorful species of the Meconopsis genus, they are some of the most distinctive and most sought-after members of the poppy family. The Genus Meconopsis is the first major revision of the genus since 1934 and the only monograph on the genus in existence. This fully revised text incorporates the discovery of nearly thirty new species with decades of new scholarship. The Genus Meconopsis is extensively illustrated with striking color photographs and botanical paintings. Species descriptions that include habitat and variation within the genus, as well as detailed distribution maps, make this ideal for botanists, horticulturalists, and gardeners alike.