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Meconopsis aculeata
Meconopsis aculeata is a thorny, blue-flowered monocarpic perennial from the high Himalaya of Pakistan, India and SW Tibet, grown mainly as a medicinal plant in Ladakh. It dies after flowering and seeding, and wild populations are under pressure from over-collection, so it is best grown from cultivated seed in a cool, moist, well-drained spot.
Meconopsis aculeata is a blue-flowered thorny species of the genus Meconopsis with a small geographical distribution restricted to specific areas of Pakistan and India, in the west Himalayas. The species was described from specimens collected here, by Royle in 1833. It is also known as Bhoti 'Tsersnon' in Ladakh. Along with Juniperus polycarpos (also known as Bhoti 'Shukpa'), it is used in the Sowa-Rigpa (also known as Amchi system) traditional medicine system. Both have been proposed as the state flower and state tree respectively by the Ladakh administration.
The species is highly valued as a medicinal plant, and the resulting demand for the plant as medicine has placed pressure on wild populations due to over-collection.
Nepalese Autumn Poppy · Meconopsis bella · Meconopsis bhutanica · Meconopsis gakyidiana · Blue Poppy · Prickly Blue Poppy · Meconopsis lancifolia · Meconopsis manasluensis · Satin Poppy · Harebell Poppy · Meconopsis simplicifolia · Asiatic Poppies
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Meconopsis aculeata by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
