Mr. ANDEnSON's Monograph of the Genus. Pæonia. — 965 
most of the hilly regions in the south of Europe. Also on Cau- 
casus.and in Georgia (Pallas). Quer in his Flora Espanola states 
that it is frequent in Spain, particularly on the mountains of 
Avila. ; | 
The history of the present species may boast of a greater anti- 
quity than that of most plants. There can be no doubt of its 
being the Paonia of- Pliny, to which sud great medical virtues 
were attached. 
Were we to trust to the double varieties, which are by nth 
the most common in this country, we should conclude that this 
species was altogether free from pubescence; but on examining 
the single-flowered sorts, we find two out of three that have come 
under our observation slightly villous; so little reliance is to be 
placed on that property. Retzius is the only writer who has fully 
described this species, and his description is, in our opinion, with- 
out a fault. He has laboured per haps over-much in defining the 
divisions of the leaf, which are so apt to vary, from soil and situa- 
tion, as to baffle any such refinement of description. There arc 
two specimens.in the Cliffortian herbarium named anomala, which 
we take to be those of a variety of this species - with narrower 
leaves than any we have seen elsewhere; they are certainly not 
specimens of anomala, for they have woolly germens, a a decided 
mark of distinction between these two species. caer c di 
We have been obliged to reject many synonyms, _ to prevent 
swelling the list to an unreasonable length. - All the old herbals 
have noticed, if not figured, the * female peiony.” We have in- 
PRE distinct mb Garotas 
tes Sabini ; floribus atro-purpureis, foliis omnino glabris. 
A few years ago no person knew that a plant of the si ie 
flowered P. officinalis existed in this country. Mr. Sabine had. the 
good fortune to discover one in the corner of an old garden at 
VOL. XLI. Q Mu Great 
