It was created by French botanist Viguier in 1814 for the species known by the common name Welsh poppy, which Carl Linnaeus had described as Papaver cambricum.

[4] It has a style, while all other then described Papaver species lacked one, having only a "stigmatic disc" (i.e. a disc-shaped region on the top of the ovary receptive to pollen).

Later, when mainly blue-flowered poppy-like species with styles like the Welsh poppy were discovered in the Himalayas and neighbouring regions, they were also placed in the genus Meconopsis.

[1] Molecular phylogenetic studies have shown that the Old World members of the subfamily Papaveroideae form a monophyletic clade.

An alternative approach, adopted by Plants of the World Online and since largely reversed, was to sink Meconopsis, Roemeria, Stylomecon and Cathcartia into Papaver.

These plants [clarification needed] are available in a variety of strong colours, including blue, red, orange, purple, white and yellow depending on species and cultivar.

All meconopsis require an acid or neutral soil pH, in a partially shaded sheltered position.

The following cultivars, of mixed or uncertain heritage, have won the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:- In the United Kingdom, Meconopsis has been affected by the invasive golden root mealybug.