THE CLEMATIS, PEONY, AND ANEMONE FAMILY. 519 



HERBACEOUS PEONIES. 



(P. edulisi P. albiflora, P. sinensis, P. officinalis.) 

 Alba superba white and pink. Lilacina bright rosy lilac. 



Madame Calot rosy purple and 



white. 

 Madame Margottin rosy pink, 



marked with purple. 

 Madonna deep rose. 

 Mrs Hartnell rose-pink. 

 Prince Charles rosy purple. 

 Pulcherrima French white. 

 Purpurea crimson purple. 

 The Queen creamy white. 

 Tricolor plena rose-pink and 



white. 



Anemoneflora carneo-tincta rosy 



white. 



Atrosanguinea crimson purple. 

 Auguste van Gert rosy purple 



and white. 

 Candidissima white or straw 



colour. 



Carnea maxima flesh-pink. 

 Centifolia rosea rose and white. 

 Due de Cazes rosy purple. 

 Eugene Verdier rosy pink. 

 Jeanne d'Arc pink and white. 

 Leoni flesh-pink and white. 



Peonies are very variable plants even in their wild habitats, 

 and the original state of P. moutan is unknown. The last- 

 named plant is the parent of numerous lovely forms, and has 

 been assiduously cultivated by Chinese gardeners during the 

 last fourteen centuries. It is said to be a native of the moun- 

 tains of Northern China. The following are some of the early 

 forms grown in our gardens : 



Pceonia anomala. A cut-leaved plant from Siberia, bearing 

 bell-shaped, bright, rosy flowers. Like P. tenuifolia, it is of 

 elegant habit, and might be useful in cross-breeding. (See 

 'Bot. Mag.,'t. 1754.) 



P. albiflora, introduced in 1784, has white flowers, and ap- 

 pears to be a very variable plant Its flowers are very fragrant. 

 (See 'Bot. Mag.,' t. 1756.) 



P. edulis, var. sinensis. A showy, double-flowered, rosy, 

 crimson-flowered plant, very fragrant, and supposed to be 

 distinct from P. moutan. (See 'Bot. Mag.,' t. 1768; see also 

 P.pubens, t. 2264, and P. moutan, t. 1154.) 



Pteonia officinalis (see 'Bot. Mag.,' t. 1784) is an old plant, 

 and was common in Parkinson's time, since he observes that 

 the double sort sometimes produces ripe seeds, which, being 

 sown, bring forth some single and some double flowers. (See 

 also P. humilis, t. 1422, and P. daurica, t. 1441.) 



P. tenuifolia is figured in the same work, t. 926. 



Ranunculus (Buttercups]. This is a large genus of annual, 

 perennial, or aquatic plants, R. asiaticus being the type of the 

 florists' or Turban Ranunculus, once highly popular, and still 

 often met with in gardens. This species is a native of the 

 Levant, and is said to have been introduced prior to 1596. 

 The blood-coloured variety, " sanguinea," is a native of Syria ; 



