Introduction of the plant front cover: Meconopsis racemosa Maxim.

MeconopsisracemosaMaxim.is an annual herbaceous plant of the family Papaiaceae,belonging to the genusMeconopsis.It is 20-50 cm tall,with hard and flat yellow brown or light yellow firm spines throughout the body.Its stem is cylindrical and not branched.Basal leaves and lower stem leaves are oblong-lanceolate,oblanceolate,or rarely narrowly ovate.Inflorescence is a simple raceme with up to 14 flowers.Oblong-ovate sepals are caducous,with firm spines on the outside.Petals are oblong-obovate,with sky blue or blue purple in color,sometimes red.Capsule is ovoid or narrowly ovoid,densely covered with prickly hairs.Flowering occurs in May to August,and fruiting occurs in July to November.

Meconopsisracemata,commonly known as “alpine peony”,is a beautiful flower and endemic to China.The plant has certain medicinal value and is commonly used as Tibetan medicine on the plateau.It is distributed in southern Gansu,southern and eastern Qinghai,western and northwestern Sichuan,northwestern Yunnan,and Tibet,where it grows on gravelly slope,or in alpine meadows or alpine scrub,or in forests at altitudes of 3 000-4 600 (-4 900) m above sea level.Due to the special growing environment and human excavation,the number of wild plants of this species is gradually decreasing.