Wednesday 19 January 2005

Meconopsis grandis - Photos In The Garden

10 inch flowers and KEKE seedling.
Rosette in spring of L and S 600 Plants currently in cultivation almost certainly the same parentage as M. sheldonii NOT M. grandis). Mrs Jebbs form. One of many sterile cultivars, may be hybrids or sterile M. grandis.
Top 7 are M. x Sheldonii or M. grandis. M. x Sheldonii. Hybrid between M. grandis and M. betonicifolia - made many times and always sterile. Twenty years or more ago the chromosome numbers spontaneously doubled (allopolyploidy) to produce Lingholm and Kingsbarns hybrids (separate events). These are fertile and tens of thousands of Lingholm are grown from seed each year.
Lingholm (an allopolyploid of x Sheldonii) in Caithness. Kingsbarns hybrid (characteristically dwarf and blue/purple) and a good form of M. grandis in background.
Chance seedling among Lingholm. These slightly cream plants were also described 30 years ago as M. grandis alba. They are always sterile and the webmaster has so far had 5 among Lingholm seed. Probably the same parentage as the last originating in Norway and named Marit. Again sterile and my suspicion is that they are back crossed to M. integrifolia or M. pseudointegrifolia as are many cream hybrids - see x Beamishii. Finn Haugli.

Garden flowering plant from seed collected in east Himalayas. Ron McBeath.