P JEO 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



PAL 



229 



reins scarcely prominent underneath ; 3. in having the floral 

 leaf more remote ; 4. in the colour of the flower, and especially 

 the pleasant smell, like that of Narcissus ; 5. in the smooth- 

 ness of the germina ; and, 6. in having both root and herb 

 more insipid ; it also flowers later. This plant is well known 

 among the Daurians and Mongols, on account of the root, 

 which they boil in their broth, and the seeds, which they 

 grind and put into their tea; they call the plant Dschina; 

 the Russians call it Margin koren bjelyi. Native of Siberia. 



2. Pseonia Officinalis ; Common Patony. Leaves doubly- 

 pinnate, sublobed ; leaflets oblong, veined underneath. There 

 are two principal varieties of this, the common Female, and 

 Male Peeony : the roots of the Female Pseony are composed 

 of several roundish thick knobs, or tubers, which hang below 

 each other, fastened with strings ; the stalks are green, about 

 two feet and a half high ; the leaves are composed of several 

 unequal lobes, which are variously cut into many segments ; 

 they are of a paler green than those of the Male, and are 

 hairy on their under side; the flowers are smaller, and of a 

 deeper purple colour. The roots of the Male Pseony are com- 

 posed of several oblong knobs, hanging by strings fastened 

 to the main head; stems the same height with the preceding; 

 they are terminated by large single flowers, composed of five 

 or six large roundish red petals : the flowers of both sorts 

 appear in May, and the seeds ripen in autumn. It is scarcely 

 necessary to observe, that the old names of male and female 

 have no reference to the sexes of the flowers, which in both 

 are hermaphrodites. That called the Male Paeony, is chiefly 

 cultivated for the roots, which are justly celebrated for their 

 beneficial effects as a medicine, in disorders of the head and 

 nerves. The best method of administering them is in powder, 

 of which twelve grains is a sufficient dose : this, if persevered 

 in for some time, will greatly alleviate nervous complaints, 

 head-achs, and convulsions. It soon cures that disagreeable 

 complaint, the night-mare, and is recommended for obstruc- 

 tions of the liver, and for complaints arising from such 

 obstructions : an infusion of the root is also prescribed for 

 obstructed menstruation, and for hysteric and nervous com- 

 plaints, particularly the falling sickness. The Male Pseony 

 varies with pale, and white flowers, and with larger lobes to 

 the leaves. There are also several varieties of the Female 

 Paeony, with double flowers, differing in size and colour. 

 The following varieties are worth noticing, 1. Foreign Peeony, 

 with a deep red flower: the roots are composed of roundish 

 knobs, like those of Female Pseony ; the leaves also are 

 the same, but of a thicker substance ; the stalks do not rise 

 so high ; and the flowers, which appear later, have a greater 

 number of petals : it is a native of the Levant. The large 

 double Purple Poeony, is probably a variety of this. 2. Hairy 

 Pseony, with a larger double red flower, 'has also roots like 

 the common Female Pseony ; but the stalks are taller, and 

 of a purplish colour; the leaves are much longer, with 

 spear-shaped entire lobes ; the flowers are large, and of a 

 deep colour. 3. Pseony of Portugal, it bears a single sweet 

 flower : the roots are not composed of roundish tubers, but 

 consist of two or three long, tapered, forked fangs, like 

 fingers; the stalk rises little more than a foot high, and is 

 terminated by a single flower, which is of a bright red colour, 

 smaller than the preceding, and of an agreeable sweet scent: 

 it is a native of Portugal, and requires a lighter soil, and 

 warmer situation, than the others. 



3. Pseonia Laciniata ; Jagged-leaved Peeony. Leaves 

 biternate; leaflets acutely laciniate ; germina smooth; root 

 tuberous, difform, very large, descending by cylindrical pro- 

 cesses, a span in length, yellowish without, white within, 

 both fresh and dry having a very strong smell and taste of 



bitter almonds or peach kernels ; root-leaves none, but red 

 awnless sheaths ; flower nodding a little ; the calix has three 

 lanceolate leaflets, equal to the corolla in length, purple at 

 the base, leafless and reflex at the end, and the three inner 

 leaflets ovate-acuminate and concave ; corolla handsome, 

 spreading a little, deep rose-coloured, with a slightly virose 

 smell, six-petalled, in gardens frequently seven-petalled ; 

 petals oblong, oval, waved, tender, the outer larger, the 

 inner narrower. Native of Siberia. In the gardens at Peters- 

 burg it flowers sooner than the other species, namely, about 

 the end of May. The root dried is used by the Mongols 

 and some Tartars, as sauce for their meat; and Boetcher, 

 an army surgeon, found it to be useful in intermittent fevers. 

 It grows principally in mountainous woods. 



4. Pseonia Hybrida; Mule Peeony. Leaves ternate, mill- 

 tifid ; segments linear ; germina three, pubescent. This has 

 nearly the stature of the last, and is much taller than the 

 next; stem about a finger's thickness, obscurely channelled. 

 This plant is supposed to have originated in the botanic gar- 

 den at Petersburg from the seeds of the fifth species, sown 

 in the same bed with that of the third : it is conjectured to be 

 a mule between these two species, since it has never pro- 

 duced ripe seeds. It occurs of a much smaller size in some 

 parts of Siberia. 



5. Pseonia Tenuifolia; Slender-leaved Peeony. Leaflets 

 linear, many-parted ; germina two, tomentose ; root creeping, 

 putting forth tuberous fibres, with tubercles the size of a 

 hazel-nut, white, fleshy, of a bitterish taste ; stems scarcely 

 a foot high, and commonly single, but in the garden eighteen 

 inches high, and producing several from the same root ; 

 root-leaves none ; the upper leaves simply multifid ; flower 

 sessile at the uppermost leaf, subglobular, accompanied by 

 two leaflets, one multifid, the other simple, both dilated at 

 the base, of a deep rich blood-colour, with yellow stamens. 

 Native of the Ukraine. 



6. Pseonia Moutan ; Chinese Tree Peeony. Stem woody, 

 perennial ; leaflets oblong-ovate, glaucous and somewhat 

 hairy beneath, the terminal one three-lobed ; germina nume- 

 rous, distinct. The flowers are terminal, and solitary, six 

 to eight inches broad, consisting of numerous jagged rose- 

 coloured petals, with yellow anthers. Native of China. 



Painted Lady Pea. See Lathyrus. 



Palavia ; a genus of the class Monadelphia, order Poly- 

 andria. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth one- 

 leafed, half five-cleft, permanent. Corolla : petals five, 

 roundish, inserted into the base of the tube of the stamina. 

 Stamina : filamenta very many, united below into a tube, in 

 the top of the tube free ; antherse roundish. Pistil: germen 

 globular; style many-cleft at top, short; stigmas capitate. 

 Pericarp : capsule roundish, many-celled ; cells not opening, 

 placed in a ball on the elevated central receptacle. Seeds: 

 solitary, roundish, angular. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. 

 Calix: half five-cleft. Style: many-cleft. Capsule: many- 

 celled ; cells in a ball on the raised central receptacle. 

 The species are, 



1. Palavia Malvifolia. With smooth cordate leaves, either 

 obtusely and deeply crenated, or lobed. This is an annual 

 plant, with red, declinate, very branchy stems, scarcely a 

 palm long. The corolla is rose-coloured. Native of sandy 

 places near Lima in Peru, where Dombey found it flowering 

 in July, August, and September. 



2. Palavia Moschata. With tomentose, cordate, and 

 ovate-crenated leaves. Stem upright, branchy, and two feet 

 high ; flowers large, and of a yellowish purple. The whole 

 plant is downy, and has a musky smell. Observed near 

 Lima in Peru. 



