NAT. ORDER 



MultisUiquce. 



PJEOmA OFFICINALIS COMMON PEONY. 



Class XIII. POLYANDRIA. Oldei' II. DiGYNIA. * •■ 



Gen. Char. Calyx five-leaved. Petals five. Styles none. Cap- 

 sules many-seeded. 



Spe. Char. Leaves double pinnate, sub-lobed. Leaflets oblong, vein- 

 ed underneath. 



The root is perennial, large, knobby, externally brow^n, internally 

 white, and compact ; the stalks rise from two to three feet in height, 

 which are thick, smooth, succulent and branched ; the leaves are pin- 

 nated, or cut into lobes, which are oblong and few, terminated by an 

 odd one ; the flowers terminal, solitary and red ; the calyx is com- 

 posed of five unequal, ovate, concave leaves ; the corolla generally 

 consists of five large petals, which are roundish and concave; the fila- 

 ments are about thirty, which are short, slender, and supporting ob- 

 long quadrangular anthers ; germens two, ovate, hairy, and erect ; 

 styles none ; stigmas hooked ; capsules two, which are hairy, oblong, 

 inclining outwardly, single-celled, single-valved, and containing nume- 

 rous small seeds. 



The Peony is a native of Switzerland, where it was esteemed 

 very highly on account of its supposed medical virtues, and for which 

 purpose it was extensively cultivated in various parts of that country ; 

 from Switzerland it was introduced into Europe as an ornament to the 

 flower garden, and from Europe into the United States, where it has 

 now become naturalized, and is found growing wild in all its beauty 



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