( 217 .) 
PtEO'NIA* *. 
Linnean Class and Order. Polya'ndria f, Pentagy'nia. 
Natural Order. Ranuncula'ceai+, Juss. Gen. PI. p. 231. — 
Sm. Gram, of Bot. p. 136. — Lindl. Syn. p. 7. ; Introd. to Nat. Syst. 
of Bot. p. 6. — Riel), by Macgilliv. p. 465. — Loud. Hort. Brit. p. 495. 
Mag. of Nat. Hist. v. i. p. 137. — Don’s Gen. Syst. of Gard. and 
Bot. v. i. p. 2. — Rosales ; sect. Ranunculin/e ; subseet. Ranun- 
CULIanjE; type, P.eoniaceaE ; subty. P asonidas ; Burn. Out. of 
Bot. v. ii. pp. 614, 828, 832, & 842. — Multisiliquas, Linn. 
Gen. Char. Calyx (see fig. 1, a.) inferior, of 5 roundish, con- 
cave, reflexed, unequal, foliaceous, permanent sepals. Corolla of 
5 roundish, concave, spreading petals, contracted at the base, larger 
than the sepals. Filaments (see fig. 1, b.) very numerous, hair- 
like, much shorter than the corolla. Jlnthers (see fig. 1, c.) termi- 
nal, upright, oblong, quadrangular, 4-celled, large, bursting in- 
wardly. Germens (see fig. 1, d.) from 2 to 5, or more, sessile, egg- 
shaped, downy. Styles none. Stigmas (see fig. 1, d.) oblong, 
curved, compressed, blunt, coloured. Follicles ( capsules ) as many 
as the germens, ovate-oblong, spreading widely, coriaceous, of one 
cell, and one valve, bursting along the inner side. Seeds (fig. 3.) 
numerous, oval, polished, coloured, ranged along the edges of the 
follicle. 
Distinguished from other genera, in the same class and order, by 
the calyx of 5 sepals ; the corolla of 5 petals ; and the many- 
seeded follicles, crowned with the bilamellated stigmas. 
One species British. 
PiEO'NIA CORALLI'NA. Coral Pseony. Entire-leaved Paeony. 
Spec. Char. Herbaceous. Leaves twice ternate ; leaflets egg- 
shaped, entire, smooth. Follicles downy, recurved. 
Engl. Bot. 1. 1513, — Ritz. Obs. fasc. 3. p. 34. — Willd. Sp. PI. v. ii. p. 1221. — 
Ait. Hort. Kew. (2nd ed.) v. iii. p. 315. — Anderson in Trans, of Linn. Soc. v. xii. 
p. 268. — With. (6th ed.) v. iii. p. 605; and 7th ed. v. iii. p.662. — Sm. Eng. FI. 
v. iii. p 29.— Gray’s Nat. Arr. v. ii. p. 710.— Lindl. Syn. p. 14. — Hook. Brit. 
FI. p.261. — Don’s Gen. Syst. of Gard. and Bot. v. i. p. 66. fig. 14, — Pceonia 
officinalis, var. (3. mascula, Linn. Sp. PI. p. 474. — Pceonia mas, Johnson’s 
Gerarde, p. 890. — Park. Parad. pp. 341 & 343. f. 1. — Pceonia folio nigricante, 
splendido, quee mas, Bauh. Piuax, p. 323. n. 1. — Tournef. Inst. p. 273. t. 146. 
Localitifs. — O n islands in the river Severn. — Somersetshire ; Abundantly 
in the rocky clefts of the steep Holmes, in the Severn, 1803 : Mr. F. Wright, 
in Engl. FI.— Gerarde reports it to have been found in Kent, on a rabbit- 
warren, in the parish of Southfleet, about two miles from Gravesend ; but no 
other person has found it there. 
Perennial. — Flowers in May and June. 
Fig. 1. A Flower with the petals taken off ; a. the Calyx ; h. the Filaments ; 
c. the Anthers ; d. the Germens, with their purple stigmas. — Fig. 2. A separate 
Stamen. — Fig. 3. A perfect Seed. — Fig. 4. An abortive one. 
* So named in honour of the Physician Pjeon, who is said to have cured 
Pluto of a wound received from Hercules. 
t See Anemone nemorosa. f. 43. n. f. { See Clematis vitalba, f. 129, a. 
