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• Taxonomy
• Physical Description
• Landscaping
• Growth
• Similar Species
• Bibliography
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Taxonomy

Physical Description

Family Paeoniaceae:

Shrubs or perennial herbs, to 3.5 m tall. Roots fleshy, thick but attenuate toward tip, or tuberous. Stems (in herbs) or current year s branchlets (in shrubs) terete, with several persistent scales at base. Leaves alternate, compound; proximal 1--3 best developed, 1--3-ternate or 1- or 2-pinnate; leaflets entire or divided. Flowers solitary and terminal, or 2 or more per shoot and both terminal and axillary, more than 4 cm in diam. Bracts 1--6, leaflike, varying in shape and size, grading into sepals. Sepals 2--9, varying in shape and size. Petals 4--13, varying in color. Stamens up to 230; filaments and anthers varying in color. Disc leathery or fleshy, annular (in herbs) or extended into a sheath and 1/3 to wholly enveloping carpels (in shrubs) . Carpels 1--5(--8), free, glabrous or hairy; ovules numerous, borne in two rows along ventral suture. Styles present or absent; stigmas laterally flattened, recurved, crested. Fruit a follicle. Seeds black or dark brown, globose or ovoid-globose, to 1.3 cm in diam.

One genus and ca. 30 species: NW Africa, temperate Asia and Europe, W North America; 15 species (ten endemic) in China.^[1]

Genus Paeonia:

Morphological characters and geographical distribution are the same as those of the family.

Paeonia is a very complex genus and many of the species are not yet well defined. A consistent taxonomic treatment will require further studies throughout the world distribution of the genus in order to resolve questions about the limits of, and relationships between, the species.^[2]

Landscaping

Care: Follow a regular watering schedule during the first growing season to establish a deep, extensive root system. For a neat appearance, remove old foliage before new leaves emerge. Divide clumps every 2 to 3 years in early spring.

Growth

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full sun

Moisture: Water Requirements: Water regularly, when top 3 in. of soil is dry.

Temperature: Heat Zones: High: 8 (>90 to 120 days) Low:1 (< 1 days) (map) • Cold Hardiness: High:8 (10 to 20 F) Low:4 (-30 to -20 F) (map)

Similar Species

Members of the genus Paeonia:

There are approximately 1,605 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus. Here are just 100 of them: P. anomala hybrida · P. brownii californica · P. daurica coriifolia · P. daurica lagodechiana · P. daurica mlokosewitschii · P. daurica wittmanniana · P. emodi sterniana · P. intermedia pamiroalaica · P. lutea ludlowii · P. mascula cambessedesii · P. mascula kesrouanensis · P. mascula orientalis · P. moutan atava · P. officinalis italica · P. rockii atava · P. suffruticosa ostii · P. suffruticosa yinpingmudan · P. veitchii altaica · P. 'A-197' · P. 'A-198' (Golden Experience Peony) · P. 'A-199' (Golden Era Peony) · P. 'Adolphe Rousseau' (Aolphe Rousseau Peony) · P. 'Age of Gold' · P. 'Alesia' · P. 'Alice Harding' · P. 'Alice Palmer' (Tree Peony) · P. 'Alice Roberts' · P. 'Alley Cat' · P. 'Alsace' · P. 'Amberglow' (Amberglow Peony) · P. 'America' · P. 'Angelet' · P. 'Angelo Cobb Freeborn' · P. 'Archangel' · P. 'Archangel' × 'Quad' · P. 'Argosy' · P. 'Athena' · P. 'Auten's Red' · P. 'Avant Garde' · P. 'B.G. Fahr' · P. 'Ballerina' · P. 'Banquet' · P. 'Bartzella' (Intersectional Peony) · P. 'Black Douglas' · P. 'Black Monarch' · P. 'Black Panther' · P. 'Black Pirate' (Tree Peony) · P. 'Blaze' · P. 'Bolero' · P. 'Border Charm' · P. 'Bridal Icing' · P. 'Bride's Dream' · P. 'Buckeye Belle' · P. 'Burma Midnight' · P. 'Burma Ruby' (Burma Ruby Peony) · P. 'Byzantine' · P. 'Camden' (Camden Garden Peony) · P. 'Cardinals Robe' · P. 'Carl G.Klehm' · P. 'Carol' · P. 'Carrara' · P. 'Chalice' · P. 'Chameleon' (Peony) · P. 'Charles' White' (Charles White Peony) · P. 'Cheddar Charm' (Garden Peony) · P. 'Cheddar Royal' · P. 'Cherry Ruffles' · P. 'China Pink' · P. 'Chinese Dragon' · P. 'Chocolate Soldier' · P. 'Cincinnati' (Garden Peony) · P. 'Claire de Lune' · P. 'Claudia' · P. 'Constance Spry' · P. 'Cora Louise' · P. 'Coral 'n' Gold' · P. 'Coral Charm' · P. 'Coral Fay' · P. 'Coral Sunset' · P. 'Coral Supreme' · P. 'Cousin Nora' · P. 'Crusader' · P. 'Cytherea' · P. 'Dancing Butterflies' · P. 'Dawn Glow' · P. 'Daystar' · P. 'Defender' · P. 'Doreen' (Peony) · P. 'Dorothea' (Dorothea Peony) · P. 'Early Bird' · P. 'Early Glow' · P. 'Early Scout' · P. 'Early Song' (Peony) · P. 'Early Windflower' · P. 'Eastgrove Ruby Lace' · P. 'Eden's Perfume' · P. 'Edulis Superba' · P. 'Elfin Beauty' (Peony) · P. 'Elizabeth Foster' · P. 'Ellen Cowley'

Bibliography

• Hong, D.Y. and Pan, K.Y. 2005. Notes on taxonomy of Paeonia sect. Moutan DC. (Paeoniaceae). Acta Phytotax. Sin. 43(2): 169-177.
• Pan Kai-yu. 1979. Ranunculaceae subfam. Paeonioideae. In: Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 27: 3759.

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Notes

Contributors:

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-2006. Systema Naturae 2000. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Accessed April 19, 2007.

Identifiers:

• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 710396

Footnotes:

1. Deyuan Hong, Kai-yu Pan & Nicholas J. Turland "Paeoniaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 6 Page 127. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org.
2. "Paeonia". in Flora of China Vol. 6 Page 127. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org.