120 PACHYSTIMAPJEONIA 



the margins decurved ; quite smooth. Flowers very small, greenish, borne on 

 very slender-stalked cymes | in. long in the leaf-axils. Fruit ^ in. long, white. 

 Native of steep rocky slopes on the mountains of Virginia and N. Carolina ; 

 introduced to Kew in 1893, where it has proved hardy. It has no beauty of 

 flower, and its only merit as a garden shrub is its neat low habit, for it does 

 not bear fruit freely with us. It is also of scientific interest in being confined 

 to comparatively small areas in a wild state. It blossoms from May to 

 August. 



P. MYRSINITES, Rafinesque. 



An evergreen shrub, 6 to 18 ins. high, ultimately spreading in habit. 

 Leaves oblanceolate to narrow-oblong or ovate, from \ to \\ ins. long, from 

 ^ to \ in. wide, toothed towards the tip. Flowers \ in. across, reddish, 

 produced singly, or two or three together in the leaf-axils. Fruit white, \ in. 

 long. 



This is the Western representative of the genus, being found in woods on 

 the north-western coast of N. America, and in the valleys of the Rocky 

 Mountains. It is much more widely spread and abundant than its Eastern 

 ally, but has no more value in the garden. It differs from P. Canbyi in its 

 freer more robust growth, its wider, larger leaves not so much decurved at the 

 margins, and in its shorter flower-stalks. It blossoms in April and" during 

 the two or three succeeding months. 



P^EONIA. P^EONY. RANUNCULACE^:. 



A genus composed mainly of herbaceous plants, but including the 

 two following shrubs. Leaves alternate, deeply divided ; flowers solitary, 

 produced at the end of the shoot. Fruit consisting of five carpels. 



I*. MOUTAN, Sims. MOUTAN or TREE P^EONY. 



(Bot. Mag., tt. 1154, 2175 ; P. arborea, Donn.} 



A stiff-branched, deciduous shrub, of rather gaunt habit when in the 

 leafless state, but of luxuriant aspect when in full leaf; rarely more than 

 5 ft. high in this country, but said to be twice that height in China. 

 Branchlets thick, rugged, soft with abundant pith, dying back more than 

 half their length after flowering. Leaves doubly pinnate or doubly ternate ; 

 9 to 1 8 ins. long. In the typical state, now rarely seen, the flowers have 

 from five to ten petals and numerous stamens ; but in the popular double 

 varieties petals have taken the place of stamens, and, being very numerous, 

 form a full, exceedingly "double" flower from 6 to 12 ins. across. The 

 original type has rosy purple flowers, but in the varieties the colours range 

 from white to pink, deep rose, vermilion, and crimson, sometimes striped, 

 the petals having a crinkled, satiny appearance. Such odour as the flowers 

 possess is not pleasant. They expand in May and June. 



This shrub, one of the most gorgeous of all exotics hardy in England, has 

 been cultivated for centuries by the Chinese and Japanese. The name 

 " Moutan" is derived from " Meu-tang," the king of flowers in Chinese myth. 

 It is said to grow wild in the province of Kansu, China, north of the river 

 Hoang-ho. It was introduced in 1789 from China to Kew, where the 

 original plant remained until 1842, when, owing to building operations, 

 it had o be removed. In many parts of the country the tree paeony is 

 very unsatisfactory. At Kew it grows too early in spring, and the young 



