Meconopsis subsect. Eupolychaetia G. Taylor, Account Gen.

Meconopsis subsect. Eupolychaetia G. Taylor, Account Gen. Meconopsis : 30. 1934.— TYPE: M. paniculata Prain. Meconopsis subg. Discogyne (G. Taylor) Grey-Wilson, Gen. Meconopsis : 44. 2014.— TYPE: M. discigera Prain.

Monocarpic perennials with taproots; 0.3–2.5 m tall at anthesis, frequently more than 1 m tall. Stems and leaves hirsute or pubescent, commonly with barbellate or branched trichomes. Leaves retained in an evergreen dense basal rosette for a few years before flowering. Leaf blades oblanceolate or elliptic to oblong, pinnatifid or pinnatisect, with serrate, lobed or divided margins, up to 60 cm long. Inflorescence a raceme-like or panicle-like cyme most commonly with 1–5 (up to 15) flowered cymules; bracts leafy or reduced. Petals usually 4; commonly yellow, red, blue to violet. Ovary ellipsoid to oblong, usually setose, rarely glabrous; style distinct and short, occasionally expanding at the base into a disk surmounting the ovary; stigma normally capitate. Capsules oblong to ellipsoid, or ovoid to ellipsoid. Chromosome number 2 n 5 56, rarely 2 n 5 28.

Included Species — Meconopsis autumnalis P. A. Egan ; M. chankheliensis Grey-Wilson ; M. dhwojii G. Taylor ; M. discigera Prain ; M. ganeshensis Grey-Wilson ; M. gracilipes G. Taylor ; M. manasluensis P. A. Egan ; M. napaulensis DC. ; M. paniculata Prain ; M. pinnatifolia C. Y. Wu & H. Chuang ex L. H. Zhou ; M. regia G. Taylor ; M. robusta Hook. f. & Thomson ; M. simikotensis Grey-Wilson ; M. staintonii Grey-Wilson ; M. superba King ex Prain ; M. taylorii L. H. J. Williams ; M. tibetica Grey-Wilson ; M. torquata Prain ; M. violacea Kingdon-Ward ; M. wallichii Hook. ; M. wilsonii Grey-Wilson.

Species in this section share characters of a perennial monocarpic habit and retention of a dense evergreen rosette of leaves for a few years before flowering, and the latter is absent in other sections in the genus. Most species in this section are tall plants (usually more than 50 cm and up to 2.5 m tall when mature). However, a subgroup (highlighted by red branch in Fig. 3A View FIG ) in the section contains species usually less than 50 cm tall and characterized by the style expanding into a flat disc at the base. This unique disc structure was emphasized by all of the previous classifications and species with the disc structure had always been grouped into a distinct unit (i.e. Fedde’ s M. sect. Torquatae, Taylor’ s M. subg. Discogyne, or Grey-Wilson’ s M. subg. Discogyne). Our M. sect. Meconopsis for the first time recognized and put emphasis on the phylogenetic relatedness instead of relying on one morphological character to perform infrageneric division.