I. i?ANUNCULA CE^ : XANTHORHJ ZA. 



19 



30. PjEonia Mojitan U^nksii. 



Gar., 2d ser., 238.) that P. AT. /japavenicea appears to be really 

 the normal form of the sjjecies, as the late Mr. George Anderson 

 suggested in his paper on tlie subject in the Linna'an Transactions, 

 vol. .\ii. 



s P. M. 2 Bdnksn Andrews. Bot. Rep., t. 448. ; 

 Bot. Reg., 379. ; Bot. Mag., t. 1 1 54. ; and 

 oviY jig. 30. Flowers double. Petals slightly 

 tinged with blush, becoming nearly white 

 at the edges, marked at the base with pur- 

 plish red. In the centre of the flower are 

 some elongated petals, which sometimes 

 appear to rise from amongst the germens. 

 Cultivated in 1787. 



Other Varieties. Upwards of twelve are described 

 in the first edition of this work, and the number is 

 continually increasing, in consequence of cross fe- 

 cundation with one another, and with the herbaceous species. They are all 

 very beautiful, and well deserving of cultivation. 



The Pdibnia Moutan, in a sheltered situation, will attain the height of from 

 G ft. to 10 ft. in ten years: and no plant can be a more gorgeous ornament 

 of the garden than such a bush, abounding as it does in leaves striking from 

 their branched character and numerous segments, ami in very mannificeiit 

 flowers of extraordinary size ; both leaves and flowers being produced earlv 

 in the spring. On its first importation, this plant was grown m sandy peat ; 

 but it has since been found to thrive best in deep rich loamy soil. An 

 o[)en situation is preferable, both on account of maturing the wood and leaves, 

 and for displaying the flowers to advantage ; but the plant must be sheltered 

 from the cold spring winds, unless it is intended to cover it, when it is in 

 flower, with a movable glass or canvass case. The protection given to this 

 plant is necessary, not so much to prevent it from being injured during winter 

 (for it will bear the winters of Paris without any protection, if the wood has 

 been properly ripened), as to protect the tender leaves and flowers when thev 

 first appear, in April and May, from being blackened by the frost. Seeds are 

 frequently produced from which new varieties are raised, and any variety 

 may be increased by division of the root ; by grafting on the tubers of herba- 

 ceous pceonies, any time from the middle of September to the middle of 

 March ; by budding, a mode said to be practised by the Chinese ; by layers, 

 which is the most general mode ; by ringing a branch beneath each bud, and 

 then pegging down the branch, and covering it with soil ; and by cuttings. 

 The details of these modes of propagation will be found in the first edition 

 of this work. 



Genus II. 



XANTHORHrZA L. 



The Yellow-Root. 

 Mono-Tri-gynia. 



Lin. Syst. Pol3an(lria 



Gen. Char. Calyx of 5 deciduous sepals. Petals 5, of two roundish lobes 

 raised on a pedicel. Stamens 3-10. Ovaries 5-10. Carpels 2 3-seeded, 

 but usually solitary from abortion. (Don's Mill., i. p. 63.) There is only 

 one species known. 



Leaves compound, opposite, stipulate, deciduous ; pinnately divided, 

 toothed, and serrated. Flowers in racemes, axillary, compound, appearing 

 with the leaves. 



c 2 



