Tab. 5456. 



MECONOPSIS ACULEATA. 

 Prickly Meconopsis. 



Nat. Ord. Papa vera ce^. — Polyandria Monogynia. 



Gen. Char. Sepala2. Betala^. Stamina oo. Ovarii placenta 4-co, nerviforraes 

 vel plus minus intromissae ; stylus distinctus, stigmalis depresso-dilatati vel clavati 

 lobis deflexo-radiantibus plaeentis appositis. Cajjsula ovoidea, oblonga vel bre- 

 viter sublinearis, valvis brevibus, placentas cum stylo persistentes nudantibus de- 

 hiscens. Semina scrobiculata, raphe cristata vel nuda. — Herbm perennantes v. 

 rarius annua;, succo Jlavo. Folia Integra vel sapius lobata vel dissecta. Plores 

 longe pedunculati, speciosi, flavi purpurti vel aerulei, alabastris nutantibus. Benth. 

 et Hook. 



Meconopsis aculeata; sparse hispido-aculeata, foliis radicalibus cordatis ova- 

 tisve varie lobatis, canlinis oblongis pinnatifidis, omnibus varie lobulatis, 

 floribus racemosis bracteatis purpureo-eeeruleis, capsulis brevibus setoso- 

 echinatis. 



Meconopsis aculeata. Boyle, III. PI. Himal. p. 67. 1. 15 (the flowers represented 

 red, in consequence, no doubt, of the colour being taken from dried speci- 

 mens). Wall. Cat. n. 8122. Hook, et Thorns. Fl. Ind. p. 253. 



We had the good fortune to have this rare and charming 

 plant flowering in the open border, in the month of June of the 

 present year (1864). Seeds were obligingly sent to us during 

 the previous year, by our friend Dr. Cleghorn, from North-west- 

 ern India. It is a native of the high mountains of Kumaon 

 {IFaUich), at an altitude of 11,000 feet, of Sirmur (Boyle), Ku- 

 nawar (Munro), and Zanshar and Kishtwar, in Kashmir, at an 

 elevation of 10-14,000 feet above the level of the sea {Winter- 

 bottom). Of the very handsome genus Meconopsis, one species 

 inhabits Western Europe, A/. Camhrica, extending as far north 

 as Britain, two belong to North-west America, and six are na- 

 tives of Himalaya, of which one, our M. WalUchii, has appeared 

 in the Tab. 4(568 of the present work, and two, M. simplicifolia 

 and M. Nepalensis, are figured in Dr. Hooker's ' Illustrations of 

 July 1st, 1864. 



