Himalayan Blue Poppy

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Meconopsis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Papavaraceae. It was first described by French botanist Viguier in 1814 who named it as poppy-like (gr. mekon poppy, opsis alike). The species have attractive flowers and have two distinct ranges. A single species. Meconopsis Cambrica (Welsh poppy), is indigenous to England, Wales, Ireland, and the fringes of Western Europe, although recent studies suggest that it does not belong in the genus.

Meconopsis grandis, known as the blue poppy, is the national flower of Bhutan. Blue poppies do not produce opium. In the late spring of 1922, a British Himalayan expedition, led by legendary mountaineer George Leigh Mallory, discovered the plant on their failed attempt to reach the summit of the then-unconquered Mount Everest. The flowers were introduced to much excitement at the Royal Horticultural Society's spring show of 1926. However, since they are difficult to grow, the species has become fabled over the decades.