Peony

Peony (Pæonia), a genus of plants of the natural order Ranunculaceæ, having large showy flowers composed of five leafy herbaceous sepals, 5 to 10 petals, numerous stamens, and 2 to 5 carpels, each with numerous round, black, shining seeds. The leaves are compound, the leaflets variously and irregularly divided. The fibres of the root are often thickened into tubers. The species are large herbaceous perennials, or rarely half-shrubby, natives of Europe, Asia, and the north-west of America. None of them are truly indigenous in Britain, although one (P. corallina) is undoubtedly naturalised on Steep Holme Island in the Severn. On account of the beauty of their flowers, some of them are much cultivated in gardens, particularly the Common Peony (P. officinalis), a native of the mountain-woods of the south of Europe, with carmine or blood-red flowers. A variety with double flowers is common. The White Peony (P. albiflora) is another favourite species, of which there are now many beautiful varieties which have originated in French and Belgian gardens. It is a native of the central parts of Asia. Its flowers are fragrant. The Tree Peony, Chinese Peony, or Moutan Peony (P. Moutan), is a half-shrubby plant, a native of China and Japan. In favourable circumstances it attains a very large size, and a height of 12 feet or more. It has long been cultivated in China and Japan; and is now also a favourite ornamental plant in the south of Europe, but is too tender to endure the climate of Britain, except in the most favoured parts; it is, however, often to be met with in conservatories, being of a very distinct and ornamental character when in flower. It flowers in spring. The varieties in cultivation are numerous. It is propagated by cuttings and also by grafting. The roots of most of the peonies have a nauseous smell when fresh, and those of the Common Peony were in high repute among the ancients as an anti-spasmodic—hence the name Peony, from Paion, a Greek name of Apollo, the god of medicine; but their medicinal properties are now utterly disregarded. The globose, shining black seeds of peonies were formerly, in some countries, strung into necklaces, and hung round the necks of children, as acodyne necklaces, to help them in cutting their teeth.