MYTHOLOGY, AND HISTORY OF THE PEONY 



By 1086, as a literary botanist of that date tells 

 us, gardeners realised the possibilities of the plant 

 for ornamental purposes and began, by the ap- 

 plication of strong fertilisers and great diligence 

 in cultivation, to produce flowers of large size. 

 As a result of these efforts and the extensive 

 propagation by planting of seeds, new and better 

 varieties were produced. In 1596, more than 

 thirty improved kinds were listed in the catalogues 

 of Chinese growers. 



As to the subsequent history in China not 

 much information is readily accessible. Loureiro 

 in 1790 says that P. officinalis was grown over 

 the entire Chinese Empire, but principally in the 

 northern provinces, and that it had been imported 

 to Cochin China. In the middle of the Nine- 

 teenth Century, a number of valuable peonies 

 were shipped to France and formed the founda- 

 tion of collections made by noted French ama- 

 teurs. At the present time, while the peony is 

 still grown extensively, few exportations to 

 Europe or this country are made — due possibly 

 to the quality of Chinese varieties as compared 

 with the improved varieties of this side of the 



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