8o 



entirely in China and Japan, as neither of these species was known 

 to Europeans previous to 1656. 



It is the species officinalis which probably secured for the genus 

 its name. The Pcroiiia was so named by the ancients in honor 

 of Paeon, a physician, who cured the wounds received by the 

 god Alars during the Trojan war. From him. physicians were 

 sometimes called " Paeonii," and the herbs employed for medical 

 purposes " paeoniae herbae." The ancient writers, who transformed 

 simple facts into fabulous stories for the purpose of deifying 

 favorite mortals, relate that Paeon, who was a pupil of the great 

 Aesculapius, first received the peony on Mount Olympus from 

 the hands of the mother of Apollo, with which he cured Pluto 

 of a wound he had received from Hercules ; but this cure caused 

 so much jealousy in the breast of Aesculapius that the latter 

 secretly caused the death of Paeon. Pluto, however, retaining a 

 grateful sense of his service, changed him into the flower which 

 ever after bore his name. {Cottage Gardner, 1852). Old herbal- 

 ists state that the roots are celebrated as remedial in disorders of 

 the head and nerves. They state that twelve grains of the dried 

 root, if persevered in for some time, is of great service in all ner- 

 vous disorders, headaches and convulsions ; prevents the recurrence 

 of the incubus or nightmare, and removes obstructions in the liver. 

 Antiquity celebrates the virtues of this plant and places it among 

 the wonders of the vegetable creation. Fable gives us its origin, 

 and Aesculapius its properties. Superstition ranks it among miracu- 

 lous plants, assuring us that demons will fly the spot where it is 

 planted, and that even a small piece of root worn around the 

 neck is sufficient to protect the wearer from all kinds of enchant- 

 ment. The ancient Greeks, when digging the plant, were careful to 

 do so at night only, as it was said that if any one attempted to 

 meddle with it in the daytime, the green woodpecker which the gods 

 had assigned to the plant as a protector would dart at the eyes of 

 the intruder. ( Correvon, 1894). From this early legend were 

 evolved various other ideas, and it is very interesting to note as 

 late as 1883 a superstition among European peasants that "the 

 root of the peony plant must not be tasted if a woodpecker be in 

 sight or blindness will surely follow." (H. Friend, 1883). There 

 was also a feeling prevalent in England for a long while that a 

 peony plant in the yard would keep away evil spirits, and this 

 feeling may to some extent explain the fact that by the old- 

 fashioned cottage door are usually found one or two peony plants, 

 instead of a bed of them. 



