11. 



PiEONIA OFFICINALIS rubra. 

 Double Red Officinal Pseony. 



POLYANDRIA. DiGYNIA. 



Class 13. Order 2. 



P^ONiA of Pliny j Fla/ovia of Hippocrates and Dioscorides : from 

 Paeon, a famous physician of antiquity. 



Linn. gen. n. 678. Linn. spec. 747. 



GENERIC CHARACTER. 



Cat. Perianth five-leaved, small, permanent ; leaflets roundish, con- 

 cave, reflex, unequal in size and situation. Cor. Petals five, 

 roundish, concave, narrovi^er at the base, spreading, very large. 

 Stam. Filaments numerous, capillary, short. Anthers oblong, 

 quadrangular, erect, four-celled, large. Pist. Germs two, ovate, 

 erect, tomentose. Styles none. Stigmas compressed, oblong, 

 blunt, coloured. Per. Capsules as many, ovate-oblong, spreading 

 and reflex, tomentose, one-celled, one-valved, opening longitudi- 

 nally inwards. Seeds several, oval, shining, coloured, fastened to 

 the opening suture. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTER. 



Leaves doubly-pinnate, sublobed. Leaflets oblong, veined underneath. 



The roots are composed of many roundish thick knobs or 

 tubers, which are attached to each other by fibres. Tlic 



branches are about two or two feet and a half in hciffht. The 



o 



