Eomecon chionantha | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Division: | Magnoliophyta |
Class: | Magnoliopsida |
Order: | Ranunculales |
Family: | Papaveraceae |
Genus: | Eomecon |
Species: | E. chionantha |
Binomial name | |
Eomecon chionantha Hance |
Eomecon chionantha, also known as the snow poppy or dawn poppy, is a poppy of woodlands in eastern China, in particular Gansu and Sichuan provinces.
E. chionantha is a perennial developing from rhizomes that often send out stolons to considerable distances. The basal leaves are different from all other poppies, being large (10–15 cm across) and heart-shaped or kidney-shaped, each carried on its own stalk. The flowers are on branching scapes up to 40 cm tall, each branch having a single bract at its base. The flowers are 3–4 cm across, and consist of four white oval petals, with a cluster of bright yellow anthers in the center.
In cultivation it proves quite hardy as long as it is shaded, with a habit of popping up new growth at some distance from the usual planting.
The misspelling E. chionanthum is often seen.