By Joseph Sabine, Esq. 277 



know it to be intended for the plant, except by the inscription. 

 The whole plant is of lower stature than any of the three 

 preceding ones, and comes into blossom later ; its flowers are 

 also inferior in size, but more numerous, and are considerably 

 elevated above the leaves by long footstalks; they are 

 of a bright crimson colour, inclining to purple, the outer 

 petals being broad, as in the single plant ; but the interior 

 are very narrow, like a fringe (whence its name), some- 

 times partly shewing themselves in their unconverted state 

 of stamens, much elongated, with their anthers on the top, 

 the whole assuming a purple colour. The cultivation and 

 habits of this are exactly the same as those of the preceding 

 sorts. 



For the three remaining plants we are indebted to the 

 skill of the Chinese, who from a white flowering species, 

 which is a native of their northern Tartar dominions, have 

 produced varieties of great excellence ; they have not only 

 effected an impletion of the flowers, but have converted the 

 white or rather pale blush petals of the original in two in- 

 stances into a beautiful rose colour. 



In 1808, through the intervention of his friend Mr. 

 John Livingstone, Mr. Whitley of Fulham import- 

 ed a plant which he was led to expect was the Yellow 

 Moutan, it proved to be the herbaceous plant I am now 

 about to describe, having named it Whitley's Double 

 White Chinese Pceony (P. albifloraWhitlejiJ in order to re- 

 cord its introduction. This comes into flower in the be- 

 ginning or middle of June ; in habit and growth it much 

 resembles the single ones of the species, except that it rises 

 from the ground later in the spring; it grows to the height 



