Some Remarks on the Tree Pceony. 367 



Art. IV. Some Remarks on the Tree Pceony [Pcconia Moutan), 

 including its history, inti^oduction into England, the production 

 of new seedling varieties, propagation, cultivation, 8fc. By 

 the Conductors. 



{Continued from p. 338.) 



The tree pseonies are at once distinguished from the herba- 

 ceous ones by their sufFrutescent stem; their shining pale green 

 leaves, glaucous on the under side. The flowers appear earlier 

 than the herbaceous species, and remain in beauty but a short 

 time. We have never seen but three varieties in collections in 

 this country, and we are not aware of any others existing, unless 

 we excejJt a seedling raised by the Messrs. Prince, nurserymen, 

 Flushing, L. I., which is enumerated in their catalogue of plants. 

 At what time the first plants were introduced to this country we 

 have not the means of ascertaining; probably fifteen or twenty years 

 ago. The first kind imported was undoubtedly the P. JMoutan po.- 

 paveracea var. Banksifc, called the purple tree pseony; afterward 

 the original species, P. Jl/ow^onpapaveracea, and p. rosea. None 

 of the other kinds enumerated by Mr. Sabine, or registered in 

 the Hortus Britannicus, have yet become sufiiciently plenty in 

 England to be in the trade; consequently, they have not yet 

 found their way into our gardens. 



Although but the three kinds above named, one species and two 

 varieties, are in our gardens, it may be interesting to our readers 

 for us to give some description of the others, in anticipation of 

 their introduction. The great zeal which is manifested in the 

 pursuit of floriculture at the present time, by many of our ama- 

 teurs and nurserymen, will no doubt induce them to import plants 

 as soon as they are purchasable of the English nurserymen; and 

 all the varieties will, sooner or later, be found in our collections. 

 The production of seedlings may be also looked for in our own 

 gardens; numerous camellias have been produced from seeds, 

 and we see no reason why this magnificent tribe, more valuable 

 on one account than the former — its hardiness in resisting the ef- 

 fects of our long winters — should be neglected; we have not the 

 least doubt ourselves but that, in a few years, the number of 

 seedling varieties will be as great as those of the camellia a short 

 time since. 



In giving a description of the pseonies, we shall be much in- 

 debted to a paper in the Horticultural Transactions, from which 

 much of the information in the previous part of this article was 

 gathered, by Mr. Sabine. These descriptions are rather long, 

 or we should give them entire, using his own language; we shall 



