342 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



June 28, lOOC. 



placed in cold' storage each season, the 

 keeping quality being among the de- 

 sirable attributes of the modern cut 

 flower peony. Another good feature of 

 this sort is that stock is so plentiful that 

 it may be had at a moderate price. 



PEONY NOMENCLATUHE. 



fin Ills aunual' address as president of the 

 AnierU'un Peony Society, C. W. Ward bad the 

 following to 8uy oil the subject of nomencla- 

 ture.] 



The necessity of continuing everlast- 

 ingly at the task of straightening out 

 the nomenclature of the peony has been 

 most emphatically impressed upon me by 

 my experience in purchasing peonies from 

 both foreign and American growers dur- 

 ing the last three years. 



in my last, annual address I referred 

 to the variety. purchased under the name 

 of Henry Murgbr, wherein I received two 

 absolutely distinct peonies under this 

 name from the same firm at different 

 periods. This spring the attempt to de- 

 terniiue whether the names attached to 

 the various varieties growing in our 

 I»eony test plot were the true names, de- 

 veloped a state of affairs which has 

 caused nie not a little chagrin, and I 

 find that I have the same peony in many 

 instances under several names. 



Mons. Charles Levequ<« 



Some two years ago I purchased from 

 one of the most reliable firms in Hol- 

 land quite a quantity of a peony under 

 the name of Mons. Charles Leveque, pay- 

 ing therefor an exceptionally large price 

 under the impression and representation 

 that I was getting something especially 

 good. The plants are blooming for the 

 first time this season and prove to be 

 nothing less than the variety sold by 

 French growers under the name of Mile. 

 Leonie Calot, introduced by Calot in 

 1861. 



We have been purchasing this variety 



firms who have introduced this peony 

 under a new name, thus giving the im- 

 pression that it is a new variety, have 

 done it "knowingly, they have perpetrated 

 a fraud upon American peony buyers 

 which will not be soon forgotten by 

 those who have been unfortunate enough 

 to purchase this variety at a much higher 

 price than they could have secured it 

 iftider its true name from the French and 

 German growers. 



Delachii and Other Sorts. 



Two distinct sorts came to us from 

 reputable firms under the name of Dela- 

 chii, one't being a deep purplish amar- 

 anth, the other much darker in color 

 and with a decided crimson cast. The 

 habits of the varieties are quite distinct, 

 and one sort is much more valuable than 

 the other. I have not as yet been able 

 to determine which is the true sort, as 

 either one would answer fairly well to 

 the introducer's description of Delachii, 

 which is "deep purple." 



From one of the most responsible 

 American peony firms we received the 

 variety Mme. Ducel under the name of 

 Model of Perfection. Others have the 

 name Mons. Jules Elie attached to their 

 stock of Mme. Ducel. 



Under the name Modiste Guerin come 

 two varieties somewhat similar in habit 

 and similar in color, but the true va- 

 riety is much better in color and a more 

 valuable peony than the false one. 



Mme. Coste comes to us under the 

 name of Souv, de 1 'Exposition Univer- 

 selle. Under the same name we get two 

 dark pink varieties which are far infe- 

 rior to Souv. de 1 'Exposition Universelle 

 and which we have not as yet been able 

 to identify. 



Marie Stuart comes to us from one of 

 the most prominent western peony firms 

 under the name of Baroness Schroeder. 



Under the name of Mme. de Verneville 



Peony La Tulipe. 



from the most responsible French and 

 German growers at a few francs per 

 hundred, and while the peony is of a 

 very beautiful color, it is weak in the 

 stem, the blooms fall upon the ground, 

 and it has little value as an effective 

 sort in the field. The color is a beauti- 

 ful shade of salmon-pink, the flower is 

 medium in size and has the merit of be- 

 ing a good keeper and may have some 

 value as a cut flower variety, but if the 



we get a mixture of Mme. de Vatry, 

 Jeanne d 'Arc and the true Verneville. 



Jeanne d 'Arc also comes to us under 

 the name of Marguerite Gerard. 



Agnes Marie Kelway came under the 

 name of La Tulipe and La Tulipe comes 

 also under the name of Multicolor. 



Two common dark pink peonies come 

 to us under the name of Mme. Camille 

 Bancel. 



Under La Tendresse we get a common 



flesh pink, semi-double peony which 

 shows the seed pods prominently in the 

 center. The true La Tendrftsse is creamy 

 white, absolutely double and shows no 

 center or seed pods and is much dwarfer 

 grower than the false varitfty. 



Rose d'Amoor, 



Some three or four years ago we pur- 

 chased from a Holland firift- quite a stock 

 of a good solid pink peony under the 

 name of Rose d 'Amour. All of the 

 stock we received from the firm the first 

 year proved to be true to habit and 

 color. The second order to the same firm 

 for the same variety brought a mixed 

 lot of pink peonies, all varying shades 

 of dark and light pink and purple, and 

 but eleven plants out of 100 received 

 proved to be the same kind sold us 

 originally by this same firm as Rose 

 d 'Amour. An investigation of the va- 

 riety, and comparing it with the true 

 Rose d 'Amour which we purchased from 

 a French firm, and which answers the 

 originator's description, disclosed the 

 fact that none of the peonids shipped us 

 by the Holland firm in question was the 

 true variety. 



Many common sorts come to us under 

 the names of well known, valuable va- 

 rieties. In some instances where a quan- 

 tity of a valuable sort is purchased, one 

 or two plants in the lot will prove true 

 to name, the balance being frequently 

 nothing but a lot of mixed varieties run- 

 ning through shades of color somewhat 

 similar to the variety ordered but of to- 

 tally different habits and frequently a 

 totally different period of blooming. 



In many instances where a pink va- 

 riety is ordered we receive various 

 shades of dark and light pink, white, 

 flesh colored and even the deep purples 

 and amaranths. In some instances where 

 a delicate flesh-colored pink peony was 

 ordered, the variety received proved upon 

 blooming to be a deep purple. 



Efforts at Identification. 



These experiences have been the re- 

 sult of five years ' efforts to accumulate 

 a stock of peonies true to name by pur- 

 chasing them from Holland, Prench and 

 German peony firms as well as from 

 American firms. Our plants are now 

 three and four years old and are develop- 

 ing normal blooms showing the true 

 characteristics, so that for the first time 

 we are able to identify the varieties in 

 a practical way, provided the origina- 

 tor's description is sufficiently definite. 



In Holland they have a peony associa- 

 tion which is endeavoring to straighten 

 peony nomenclature by holding annual 

 exhibitions of peony blooms and thereby 

 settling mooted questions of nomencla- 

 ture. It has identified a number of va- 

 rieties which the members claim to be 

 able to furnish true to originator's na ne 

 and description. iS'evertheless, in nmny 

 instances when we buy of them they 

 prove to be wrong when we get them 

 in flower here. 



Our own American firms do not seem to 

 be in much better condition, and it would 

 seem as if we are at present almost hope- 

 lessly mixed in our peony nomenclature, 

 which seems to be too confused ^ven for 

 our American firms to deal intelligently 

 among themselves. 



Take, for instance, the peony Delachii. 

 Should we need 1,000 of this variety 

 for massing in a large piece of" landscape 

 work, if we ordered it from two or three 

 different American firms, we would re- 

 ceive possibly two or three different 

 shades of purple that would spoil the 



