M. 'Houndwood'
An elegant cultivar of uncertain garden origin which may no longer be in cultivation. It was originally reported to be a natural cross between M. baileyi and M. quintuplinervia but other sources state that only plants of M. grandis and M. quintuplinervia were present in the garden where it arose. M. ‘Houndwood’ has some resemblance to M. ‘Dagfinn’ (M. grandis × M. simplicifolia).
MG Rating: ★★★   
Introduced by: A. Duguid, Edrom Nurseries, 1960's. Named by: A. Duguid.
Registered by: The Meconopsis Group, 2002.
Flowering: mid-May to mid-June. Nodding sky-blue flowers which are usually carried on very long slender scapes but sometimes arise from a false whorl of leaf bracts. The petals are ovate with slight fluting.
Emerging foliage: Pale green elliptic blades on sturdy petioles.
Mature foliage: The paleish green leaves have long petioles. The elliptic to lanceolate lamina are neatly incised with a few serrate teeth on their margins. The leaf base tends to be shortly attenuate and the apex sub-acute.
Fruit capsule: Long ellipsoidal body with a rather irregular lumpy surface covered with short reflexed pale straw bristles. Long style with a rounded stigma. Sterile.
Etymology: The cultivar was named ‘Houndwood’ by the introducer, A. Duguid, after it was found as a natural seedling in the grounds of Houndwood House, Berwickshire.