Meconopsis sinuata Prain in J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal 64(2): 314.1896.

Herbs, monocarpic, with stout elongated taproots; stems slender, single, elongate, leafy, 15 - 50 cm high, covered with 2 - 5 (-7) mm long prickly bristles. Basal leaves few; stem leaves numerous, obovate, oblanceolate, often linear, strongly crenate sinuate-lobed along margins or sometimes entire, 4 - 12 x 1 - 3 cm, glaucous beneath, bristly on both surfaces; petioles 2 - 5 cm long, often absent on upper leaves. Flowers 4 - 8, axillary or terminal, forming leafy racemes; pedicels all bracteate, 2 - 5 cm long, elongating up to 15 cm in fruit. Sepals broadly oblong, acute, ca 1.5 cm long, bristly. Petals 4, obovate, suborbicular, rounded at apex, slightly irregularly notched, 1.5 - 3 cm long, blue, purple or violet. Filaments 8 - 10 mm long; anthers ca 3.5 mm long. Ovary ellipsoid, bristly; styles slender, 1.5 - 3 mm long; stigmas capitate. Capsules narrowly obovoid, 4 - 5 x 0.7 - 0.9 cm, 3 - 4-valved; seeds falcate-oblong with longitudinal rows of shallow pits.

Fl. & Fr. July - Oct.

Distrib. India: E. Himalayas, rocky alpine hillsides and Rhododendron forests, 3600 - 4500 m. Sikkim.

Nepal and Bhutan.