( 1784 ) 



Pjeonia officinalis. Single-flowered 

 Common Peony* 



»**%»»»** t % $ t *% 



Class and Order. 



PoLYANDRIA DlGYNIA. 



Generic Character, 

 Cal. 5-pliylIus. Petala 5. Styli 0. Capsvlce polyspermy. 



Specific Character and Synonytns. 



P^onia officinalis ; foliis decompositis nudis : foliolis lobatis : 



lobis lato-lanceolatis, capsulis rectiusculis tomentosis. 



Retz. Obs. 3. p. 35. mild. Sp. PI. 2. p. 1221. HorL 



Kew. ed. alt. 3. p. 315. 

 P^onia foliolis oblongis. Hort. Cliff. 212. Scop. Cam. 



n. 650. Regnault Bot. 

 PjEonia radice glandulosa, foliis duplicato-pinnatis, pinnis 



ellipticis et trilobis. Hall. Hist. n. 1 187. 

 P^onia femina. Fuchs. Hist. 202. Lob. 1c. 682. 6. Bank 



Pin. 323. Park. Parad. 341. Kniph. Cent. 6. n. 69. 



Knorr. Del. 1. t. R. 3. Blackw. Herb. t. 65. Moris. 



Hist. 3. 

 P^eonia rubra flore simplici. Besl. Hort. Eyst. Vern. Ord. 6. 

 /. nit. 



The Common Peony of the gardens now rarely occurs 

 with single flowers. In Parkinson's time it must have been 

 much more common, as he observes, that the double sort 

 sometimes produces ripe seeds ; which, being sown, bring 

 forth some single and some double flowers. The extremely 

 double varieties which, in our days, have been almost ex- 

 clusively cultivated, rarely, if ever, produce any seed ; and 

 are so easily propagated by the tuberous roots, that little or 

 no attention Aas been paid to procuring it, till quite of late, 



when 



