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Prain. — A Review of the genera 
monocarpic or polycarpic, it is permissible to inquire whether this habit- 
character is necessarily inherent. It may be conditioned by the environ- 
ment, and be an accidental, not an essential feature. 
As regards habit, as apart from duration, the species of Meconopsis fall 
into three main series. The first of these includes the species with slender 
non-scapose, sparingly branched, leafy stems. In facies the species of this 
series agree well. As regards duration they vary, for the series includes the 
only annual group the Anomalae , and two of the definitely perennial groups 
the Cambricae and the Chelidonifoliae . This series includes the species that 
are outliers from the main body of the genus, the Californian Anomalae and 
the European Cambricae ; it also includes the only group belonging to the 
main body of the genus, the Chelidonifoliae, of which one member (M. 
Oliveriana) extends to central China. The second main series includes 
those species with stout non-scapose, much-branched, leafy stems. . It 
corresponds to a single group, the Robustae , the members of which are 
monocarpic, flower in the second year from seed, and have, during winter, 
persistent leafy crowns. The third series includes those species with 
scapose unbranched stems or with no stems at all. As a rule the species 
are monocarpic, flower in the first year from seed, and have non-persistent 
leafy crowns. This series is, however, less uniform than the other two 
series, for there are some exceptions to the general rule. Thus M. bella , 
the only species of the group Bellae , and M. grandis , one of the species of 
the group Grandes, are uniformly perennial like the Cambricae and the 
Chelidonifoliae of the first series, and have persistent crowns like the 
Robustae of the second series. Among the Acideatae too, M. aculeata is 
occasionally polycarpic. M. bella , besides being polycarpic and having 
persistent leafy crowns, differs from other species of the genus in some- 
times not flowering till after several years from seed. This appears also 
to be probably the case with M. discigera of the group Torquatae , but this 
group is as yet inadequately known from the cultural point of view. 
Distribution. 
The distribution of the various species of Meconopsis , so far at least as 
our knowledge at present goes, is very local. This is in keeping with our 
knowledge of the species of other Alpine genera. The species at all widely 
spread are M. cambrica , which extends from the Pyrenees to Britain ; M. 
horridula which occurs throughout the greater part of Tibet, and extends 
through some of the passes into the highest valleys of the eastern 
Himalaya and western China ; M. aculeata, which extends along the 
north-western Himalaya from Kashmir to Kumaon ; M. simplicifolia , 
which extends from Nepal to Chumbi, and crosses the passes into southern 
Tibet ; M. paniculata , which extends from Nepal to Bhutan ; M . Walhchii , 
which extends from Sikkim to Chumbi and reappears in Szechuen ; and 
