Meconopsis identification

[Buddy]

Can anybody tell me what this plant Meconopsis is (was). Flowering last year from a seed exchange packet labelled M. rudis. I was unable to raise any others to flowering. There was no spotting, only a moderate number of spines on the leaves and no central flower spike. I can't match the plant to any particular Meconopsis.

[Margaret Thorne]

It probably was Meconopsis rudis or what passes for it in cultivation; the seed parent might have been pollinated by one of the other closely related prickly species, depending on what else was growing nearby. M. rudis usually has very prickly leaves and buds, and the spines often have dark spots at the base, but this is not always the case. The leaves of your plant look very small and they are not very clear, so I cannot see if this is the case. They are also usually racemose and yours appears to be scapose, but as they don't much like being in pots, it might be growing out of character.
The best thing to do is look at all the photos on the Meconopsis Species Gallery and see which species it most closely resembles. Here is the link for M. rudis: https://www.themecgroupadmin.org/gallery.asp?Species=rudis

[Buddy]

Thanks,

I've grown M. rudis in pots for several years as I don't have much garden space and M. zhongdianensis didn't get any bigger in my garden than in pots. I could find no match for this plant in Grey-Wilson's monograph, hence the post. I sow M. rudis seed every year but don't get more than one or two to flowering stage. Years ago many seedlings showed distinctive spotting but I haven't had a spotted 'rudis' in the 2-3 years. The leaves of this plant had no spots and were only lightly spiny.

[Margaret Thorne]

The monograph has space for only a small number of photos whereas those on the Gallery are selected to include as much variation as possible, but for many Meconopsis species, plants in cultivation are way outside the range of those in the wild. Whether plants change in cultivation due to differences in growing conditions compared to their wild counterparts or because they have become hybridised, is difficult to tell, but I suspect the latter is usually the case. Few donors to seed exchanges check to ensure their seed parent plants are correctly named but simply label them by the name under which the seed was received. If they have other closely related species in their garden flowering at the same time, donors have no way of knowing whether the seed they are donating is hybrid seed or not (unless they cover and hand pollinate their plants).
The Meconopsis Species Census carried out among members of The Meconopsis Group shows that seed exchanges accept seed from donors who can grow species (to seed set) and give it to people who, in the majority of cases, are not so successful. Recipients of seed can fail at any stage of growth, but often those who grow plants to flowering have too few at the same time to cross-pollinate them, so no seed, or very little, is set.
As a matter of interest, Buddy, did your plant develop capsules and set any seed?



Meconopsis rudis in cultivation, with leaves as in the wild