1 8 ARBORETUM ET FRUTICETUM BRITANNICUM.
Leaves compound, alternate or opposite, stipulate, deciduous but with
out possessing a clasping power. Flowers very large in Pmonia ’very small
í h e s í " : ' - “ th e 'd is tiL tiv e c h a r á c ’te r is íi^ ro í
P/E0 'N/.í L. Sepals persistent. Petals orbicular, sessile.
X a n t h o r i u z a L. Sepals deciduous. Petals 2-lohed, ungiiiculate.
G e n u s I.
P /E O N / r iL . T h e P/eony. Pm. ä /s/. Polyándria Di-Pentagúnia.
“ Ö S n i e " ' " P'ants, which have continued
«d-«®-®®®, and Päonie, G c r , Rosa del Monte, S p a . ,
"’ “ n S o m t o Ö i o Ä i l S Ä ^ who S nfed ’’r.HiPPoerates and Diosco.
thinks it more probable th a t it is teF v e d f r e i P¿on?a a bu t Professor Dqn
where «orne of the species grow wild. GichtterrosF Gw er ®®®ntry ot Macedonia,
knobby o r gouty appearance of th e roots of th e herbaceous specie!?
Gen. Cham Calyx o f 5 leafy, unequal, permanent sepals. Petals from 5 to 10
somewhat orbicular. Stamens numerous. Fisk fleshy, girding the ovaries’
Ihkmil-itP ’ ’ ? ^ u '" '‘"y-seeded, terminated biiamellate stigmas. Seeds rather globose, shining, with thick
.YP compound, alternate biternate or bipinnate. Flowers large, rosy
I ° y usually with a strong disagreeable smell. A suffruticose’
shrub. Height from 3 ft. to 10 ft. Native o f China and Japan.
There is but one ligneous species, P . Moutan; but there are several
vaiieties; all undershriibs, which never attain a great height, and the wood
of which always retains a herbaceous character, with a large pith. The roots
are ramose rather than tuberous. The whole plant is narcotic and po sonous
The varieties are all beautiful, and hardy in most parts o f Great Brkain :
though, from vegetating early, they commonly suffer from spring frosts. ’
Si 1. P . M ov' t an Sims. The *AV/ A.Moutan,T.1,X^ IJ. t a i l , L
or fr e e , Pmonv.
n Simo "Rnf IVTo/» *■ itk.í . r \ . . _ . J
Identification. Sims, Bot. Mag., t. 1154. ; Dec. P rod., 1. p 65 • D
Synonymes. i Pisbnia xyjiuu diuurtfa arbòrea. u B o n n n Hort.o r t . {Can.Jan. ;\ P . suffruticòi; D o d n ’n s Mill.,i ' d 1 J . p.J 65.
suifmtirhsA ' n x
Pivoine en Arbre. Fr. : hanmarHcrp Pivoine Moutan. and
Piyoine en Arbre, Fr. ; baumartige Gichtterrose, Ger. • Hoa Oliane TnH P£
Derivation. T h e word Moutan has been applied to this spedes of d ÌÓ ii? i iF r iF i r f i,’
years. P . arbòrea and P . suffruticósa signify th e tre e and th e above 1400
name signifies th e tree -like gouty rose. T h e Chinese name Hoa OnaFp- / n n a n
ers, alluding to the beauty of th e p lan t : and P é -L e an e Kin a h „n a ? a signifies the king of flow-
to tthhee hhiigghh lprriiccee wwhhiicchh ssoommee ooff tthf ce vvaaVriieettiRess bbeca! rr iinn SChhiiinma ?’ allusion
Spec Char S;c. Segments o f leaves oval-oblong, glaucous underneath Par
pels 5 vil ose. (Don’s M ü l) A deciduous®’ slffrutesce.R bush C W
Height 3 ft. to 6 ft_. Introduced in 1787. Flowers pink ; May F ruit
brownish g re e n ; ripe in September. R > y
Decaying leaves brown o r black. 0A
Varieties.
^ P . M. 1 papaverdcea Andrews,
Bot. Rep., t. 463. ; Lod, Bot.
Cab., 5 4 7 .; Bot. Mag., 2 17 5 .;
and ouryfg. 29.—P e ta ls from
8 to 13, white, with a purple
spot a t th e base o f each.
Capsules altogether enclosed
in the iirceolus, or disk. In troduced
in 1805. Professor
Don remarks (Sw. Br. FL- ¿'J. I Hioma Aiirtiian pRpavt-racea.
I. r a n u n c u l a ' c e æ : x a n t h o r h i ' z a . 1 9
;iapavef?icea appears to be really
Gar., 2d ser., 238.) th a t P. M.
the normal form ■ of t the sjiecies,. .
as the late Mr. Georgy Anderson
suggested in his paper on tne subject in th e Linnæan Transactions,
vol. xii.
50. Poe ô nm Moútan B á n k sü .
at P. M. 2 Bânksn Andretvs. Bot. Rep., t. 448. ;
Bot. Reg., 379.; Bot. Mag., t. 1154.; and
o u r /g . 30.—Flowers double. Petals slightly
tinged with blush, heconiing nearl)' white
at "the edges, marked at the base with pur-;,
plish red. In the centre of the flower are
some elongated petals, which soiiietiiiies
appeal- to rise from amongst the germens.
Cultivated in 1787.
Other Varieties. Upwards of twelve are described
in the first edition o f this work, ami the number is
continually increasing, in consequence of cross fecundation
with one another, and with the herbaceous species. They are all
very beautiful, and well deserving of cultivation.
The Pæônia Moutan, in a sheltered situation, will attain the height of from
6 ft. to 10 ft. in ten years: and no plant can be a more gorgeous ornament
of the garden than siich a bush, abounding as it does in leaves striking from
their branched character and numerous segments, ami in very magnificent
flowers of extraordinary size ; both leaves and flowers being produced early
in the spring. On its first importation, this plant was grown in sandy peat ;
but it lias since been found to thrive best in deep rich loamy soil. An
open situation is preferable, both on account of m aturing the wood and leaves,
and for displajdng the flowers to advantage ; but the plant must be shelteréd
from the cold spring winds, unless it is intended to covei- it, when it is in
flower, with a movable glass or canvass case. The protection given to this
plant is necessary, not so much to prevent it from being injured during winter
(for it will bear the winters of Paris without any protection, if the wood has
been properly ripened), as to protect the tender leaves and flowers when they
first appear, in April and May, from being blackened by the frost. Seeds are
frequently produced from which new varieties are raised, and any variety
may be increased by division o f the ro o t; by grafting on the tubers o f herbaceous
pæonies, any time from the middle o f September to the middle of
March ; by budding, a mode said to be practised by the Chinese ; by layers,
which is the most general mode ; by ringing a branch beneath each bud, and
then pegging down the branch, and covering it with soil ; and by cuttings.
The details of these modes of propagation will be found in the first edition
of this work.
G e n u s II.
X A N TH O R H I'Z A T h e Y e i . l o w - R o o t .
Mono-Tri-gynia.
Lin. Syst. Polyándria
Gen. Char. Calyx o f 5 deciduous sepals. Petals 5, of two roundish lobes
raised on a pedicel. Stamens 5-10. Ovaries 5-10. Carpels 2—3-seeded,
but usually solitary from abortion. (Don’s Mill., i. p. 65.) — T here is only
one species known.
Leaves compound, opposite, stipulate, deciduous; pinnately divided,
toothed, and serrated. Floivers in racemes, axillary, compound, appearing
with the leaves.
c 2