Emerging young leaves showing white-tipped hairs.

The pale purple-mauve flower with long, narrow style and prominent stigma.

Young ellipsoidal fruit capsule with straw-coloured bristles.

Basal leaf showing shallow teeth.

Meconopsis ‘Cally Purple’ has soft purple to mauve flowers. It was selected by Michael Wickenden of Cally Gardens in Kirkcudbrightshire from a large planting of Meconopsis ‘Lingholm’, grown for seed, and propagated by division only.

Description

Three to four open, saucer-shaped flowers, mauve-purple in colour, arise from the false whorl. They can be half nodding or face sideways. Each flower usually has four ovate petals with a frilled undulating margin.

The emerging young leaves are pale green and are covered with white-tipped hairs. The oblong mature leaves have a few shallow teeth along the margin. The fruit capsule is ellipsoidal and covered with straw-coloured bristles. The style is long and narrow with a prominent stigma.

Although placed in the Fertile Blue Group, this cultivar produces few seeds. To maintain the cultivar’s characteristics it should only be propagated by division.

At present it is an uncommon in cultivation. Until it is distributed more widely few nurseries have it, but it can be obtained from Cally Gardens.