THE BOOK OF THE PEONY 



lowed by thai; of the Wittmaniana hybrids which 

 bloom early in May, nearly a month ahead of the 

 Chinese varieties. The original Wittmaniana 

 species was probably named after Wittman, a 

 botanist who travelled in the Caucasus. The 

 details of its introduction are shrouded in mys- 

 tery, a fact which is the more remarkable be- 

 cause of the novel colour of the flower — yellow. 

 It is first mentioned in the Journal of Botany 

 (London), for 1842, where a letter is quoted 

 which shows that, together with other rare plants, 

 it had been received in a garden in the Crimea, 

 from Count Worontzoff in Adsharia, not far from 

 Erzerum. Subsequently this species was lost for 

 a number of years, but was rediscovered about 

 1880 in an obscure Irish garden. The suggestion 

 has been made that the American Peony Society 

 commission some horticultm-al Arsene Lupin to 

 unravel the mysteries of Wittmaniana's appear- 

 ance, disappearance and re-appearance. 



The flower is single with large firm petals of 

 a colour well described as " light primrose with 

 a dash of lemon." The seeds are a bright coral 

 red. This type species is not grown here very 

 successfully ; for some inexplicable reason it often 

 dies out. 



108 



