CHAP. I. RANUNCULA‘CEX. P#O'NIA. 249 
to have been introduced into England in 1797: it is found in some gardens 
and nurseries. The price, in London, is ls. 6d. a plant; at Bollwyller, ? ; 
and at New York, 1 dollar. 
A 5. A. occiwenta‘Lis Horn. The Western Atragene. 
Identification. Sprengel’s Syst. ; Swt. Hort. Brit.; Don’s Mill. 
Synonyme. Clématis occidentalis Dec. Prod., 1. p. 10. 
Spec. Char. Leaves opposite, ternate; leaflets nearly entire, shining; sepals ovate-lanceolate ; 
flowers somewhat bell-shaped. (Don’s Mill., i. p. 10.) Native country, and colour of the flower, un- 
known. 1818. 
Description, &c. We have never seen this species, nor is any thing stated in books respecting it, 
further than what we have given above. 
Sect. Il. Pmonza4cEZ Dec. 
Tuis section, or tribe, is the only one contained in De Candolle’s second of 
his two divisions of Ranunculacez, namely, in Ranunculacez spirie, and is 
identical with that division. It is at once distinguishable from the other divi- 
sion, named Ranunculacez vere, by the character of the anthers opening to 
admit the escape of the pollen on the side next the ovaries. In the other, 
the anthers open on the side outward to the ovaries. De Candolle has ques- 
tioned (Prod.) whether the Ranunculacez spuriz, or Peeonidcee, may not be 
a proper order. They differ from Clematidez in the character named, and, 
besides, in having the zstivation imbricate, and the carpels from one-seeded to 
many-seeded. ‘The ligneous species are included in two genera, Pzonia and 
Xanthorhiza, and of the characteristics of these the following are contrasting 
ones : — 
?xo\NIdA L. Sepals 5, persistent. Petals 5 or more, orbicular, without claws. 
Stamens numerous. Ovaries 2—5, girded by a fleshy disk. Carpels each 
containing several seeds. 
XantHoruiza L. Sepals 5, deciduous. Petals 5, truncately 2-lobed, 
narrowed into a pedicel. Stamens 5—10. Ovaries 5—10, not girded by a 
fleshy disk. Carpels each containing 1—3 seeds. 
Genus I. 
PHONIAL. Tue Peony. Lin. Syst. Polyandria Di-Pentagynia. 
Identification. The term Pzxdnia was applied by the Greeks to these plants, which have continued 
to bear that name ever since. 
Synonymes. Peony, Piony ; Pivoine, Fr.; Gichtterrose, and Paonie, Ger. ; Rosa del Monte, Span.; 
Peonia, Ital. 
Derivations. The term Pxdnia is said to have been given by Hippocrates and Dioscorides, in com- 
memoration of Pzon, the physician who first used itin medicine. Mr. D. Don has stated (Sw. Br. 
Fl.-Gard., 2d series, 238.) that it is much more probable that it is derived from Pxonia, a moun- 
tainous country of Macedonia, where some of the species grow wild. Most of the other European 
names are mere adaptations of the classical one, except gichtterrose, Ger., which signifies the 
gouty rose, from the knobby, or gouty, appearance of the roots of the herbaceous species, 
Gen. Char. Calyx of 5 leafy, unequal, permanent sepals. Pedals from 5 to 10, 
somewhat orbicular. Stamens numerous. Disk fleshy, girding the ovaries. 
Carpels follicular, from 2 to 5, large, many-seeded, terminated with thick 
bilamellate stigmas. Seeds rather globose, shining. Leaves biternate or 
bipinnate. Flowers large, rosy, or rosy and white, usually with a strong 
disagreeable smell. (Don’s Mill., i. 65., with adaptation.) Height from 3 ft. 
to 10 ft. 
Description. There is but one ligneous species, P. Moztan; but there are 
several varieties of this: all are undershrubs, which never attain a great height, 
and the wood of which always retains a herbaceous character, with a large 
pith. The roots are ramose rather than tuberous. 
Geography, History, §c. The ligneous species is found in China and Japan; 
