Meconopsis gakyidiana

The national flower of Bhutan was thought previously to be Meconopsis grandis (previously treated as M. grandis subsp. orientalis). In 2017, following a collaboration between the Blue Poppy Society, Japan, and the National Biodiversity Center, Bhutan, it was found that this was a misidentification. Specimens collected by Frank Kingdon-Ward in 1938 on the Indian side of the border and by George Sherriff in 1934 in Bhutan have for a long time been treated as M. grandis. However, they differ significantly from typical plants of this species. Accordingly, a new species was described, Meconopsis gakyidiana.^[4][5] The specific epithet is derived from gakyi which is a Dzongkha word for happiness. The plant was named with the inspiration derived from the Bhutanese Development Philosophy of Gross National Happiness.^[6][7]

Another two new species of blue poppy were also described in addition to M. gakyidiana, Meconopsis merakensis and Meconopsis elongata. The new species can be found in Merak (མེ་རག), Sagteng (སག་སྟེང་) and Haa (ཧཱ) regions in Bhutan.^[4]

Meconopsis gakyidiana is currently distributed across eastern Bhutan, western Arunachal Pradesh in India, and southern Xizang (Tibet), from 3,700–4,300 m in elevation.^[4] It grows in the open shrubberies, lush pastures, beside rubble walls in grazing grounds, rarely on the sunny edge of sub-alpine forests, gregariously growing together with shrubs and other tall herbs.^[4]