MECONOPSIS 
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Genus 4. Meconopsis 
Meconopsis Viguier Hist. Pav. 48, fig. 3(1814); DC. FI. France suppl. 586(1815); Prantl und Kiindig 
op. cit. 14 1 (1889); Fedde op. cit. 247 (1909); Papaver L. loc. cit., partim. 
Perennial or annual herbs, differing from Papaver in the following characters : — Sap yellow. 
Style distinct, short. Stigmas 4 — 6. Stigmatic disc absent. Capsule with imperfect partitions, 
dehiscing by the folding back of the carpels at the top. 
This genus is interesting as exhibiting the transition of the fruit from the Chelidonieae to the more specialised Papaver , 
and thus indicates the relationship between Papaver and the Brassicaceae (or Cruci/erae). 
28 species; western Europe; Asia; North America. 
I. MECONOPSIS CAMBRICA. Welsh Poppy. Plate 171 
Argemone lutea cambro-britanica Parkinson Theatr. Bot. 369 (1640); Ray Syn. ed. 3, 309 (1724); P. cambricum 
perenne flore sulphureo Dillenius Hort. Eltham. ii, 300, t. 223 (1732). 
Meconopsis cambrica Viguier Hist. Pav. 48, fig. 3 (1814); Syme Eng. Bot. i, 94 (1863); Rouy et 
Foucaud FI. France i, 163 (1893); Fedde op. cit. 251 (1909); Papaver cambricum L. Sp. PI. 508 (1753)!; Smith 
Eng. Bot. no. 66 (1792); Ft. Brit. 568 (1800). 
leones : — Dillenius Hort. Eltham. ii, t. 223, as P. cambricum perenne flore sulphureo ; Smith Eng. Bot. t. 66, 
as P. cambricum ; Baxter Brit. Pliaen. Bot. i, t. 54. 
Camb. Brit. FI. iii. Plate iyi. (a) Lower 
leaf, (b) Flowering shoot. ( c ) Flower. ( d ) 
Young fruit, (e) Fruit. Somerset (W. F. M.). 
Exsiccata : — Billot, 504 ; Bourgeau (Pyr. 
Esp.), 338. 
Perennial, with a creeping rhizome. 
Shoot about 3 — 6 dm. high, almost glabrous 
except for hairs at the base of the stem, 
the base of the petioles, and the sepals. 
Leaves petioled ; laminae pinnate ; pinnae 
pinnatifid below; lobes coarsely and irre- 
gularly toothed, cuneate at the base. 
Flowers up to 7*5 cm. in diameter; May 
to August. Sepals rather hairy. Petals 
pale orange. Stamens co . Capsule gla- 
brous, elliptical-claviform, dark brown, with 
4 — 6 conspicuous ridges. 
Local ; in moist gravelly or rocky 
copses and woods ; often on calcareous 
soil ; western England, Wales, south- 
western Scotland, Ireland (local). Al- 
though often planted, it seems to be 
really indigenous in the above area, out 
of which it is planted or a garden-escape. 
France, ? Switzerland (Jura), Spain. 
Genus 5. Papaver 
Papaver [Tournefort Inst. 237, t. 119 et t. 120 (1700) partim;] L. Sp. PI. 506 (1753) et Gen. PI. ed. 5, 
224 (1754) emend.; Viguier Hist. Pav. 35 (1814); Prantl und Kiindig in Engler und Prantl Pflanzenfam. iii, 
pt. 2, 141 (1889); Fedde op. cit. 288 (1909). 
Herbs, with white or yellowish latex. Leaves lobed or dissected. Pedicels long, recurved in 
bud, erect in flower and fruit. Flowers usually without nectar. Stigmas 4 — 20, rayed, sessile, placed 
on a more or less convex disc. Capsule opening by pores just below the stigmatic disc, subglobular 
Map 63. Distribution of M. cambrica in the British Islands 
M. III. 
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