Meconopsis aculeata Royle, Illus. Bot. Himal. 67, t. 15, 183. 1834; Hook. f. & Thomson in Fl. Brit. India 1: 118. 1872. M. bikramii Aswal in Indian J. For. 8(1): 84. 1985.

Herbs, monocarpie, prickly; stems up to 60 cm high, leafy throughout, covered with 2 - 7 mm long bristles; taproots ca 12 cm long, narrowly elongated, fusiform. Leaves oblong, imperfectly irregularly pinnatipartite, rarely bipinnati-partite, up to 30 cm long (incl. petiole); upper cauline leaves sessile, smaller; segments oblong or obovate or ovate-triangular, obtuse or rounded at apex, bristly on both sides; petioles 3 - 10 (-15) cm long, expanded at base; higher leaves sessile, smaller. Flowers on long spiny 1 - 15 cm long pedicels. Sepals broadly oblong-orbicular, 1 - 2 cm long. Petals 4, rarely 6, blue, purplish blue or red, obovate to suborbicular, ca 3.5 x 3.5 cm. Filaments 5 - 10 mm long; anthers 1 - 1.5 mm long, golden yellow. Ovary subglobose or ellipsoid, densely spimy; styles 2 - 10 mm long. Capsules dehiscing by 4 - 6 valves, 10 - 15 mm long; seeds subreniform, ca 1 mm long.

Fl. & Fr. July - Oct.

Distrib. India: W. Himalayas, 2400 - 4700 m. Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.

Pakistan.

Notes. This species is very variable in habit, size, dissection of leaves, nature of inflorescence and size and colour of petals. It is closedly allied to M. horridula, but can be easily recognised by leafy stems, globose flower buds and pinnatifid or pinnatipartite leaves.

The roots are used as narcotic in Kashmir.

Chromosome no. n = 28 (Ratter in Notes R. Bot. Gard. Edinb. 28: 191- 200. 1967).

Pollen grains 3-colpate, spheroidal, 20 - 24 u in diam. included in Horridula type (Henderson in Grana Palynol. 6(2): 196, 200. 1965)

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