60 THE LADIES' FLOWER-GARDEN 
first described it, states that he found it in the St. Petersburg Botanic Garden, growing near P. tenuifoUa and 
P. anomala ; and that consequently he thought it a hybrid between these species. It is, however, as already 
stated, very distinct from P. tenuifoUa, and it is distinguished from P. anomala, which has smooth fruit, by the 
down on its carpels. It has indeed been since found wild in many parts of Russia, and it comes true from seed ; 
so that it appears the idea of its being a hybrid is erroneous. It was introduced in 1822, and it is quite hardy 
in British gardens. 
6.— P.^ONIA OFFICINALIS, Retx. THE COMMON, OR MEDICINAL P^ONY- 
Synonymes. — Paeonia fsemina ; Fuchs. ; P. festiva, Tausch. ; P. 
ambigtia, Lois. ; Female Paeony, 
Enghaving. — Bot. Mag. t. 1784. 
Specific Character. — Carpels recurved, tomentose ; segments of 
leaves unequally jagged, with the divisions oblong-lanceolate, smooth, 
glaucous, and somewhat pilose beneath. (G. DonJ) 
Description, &c. — This is the common psBony of the gardens, which has been in cultivation since 1548, that 
is, nearly three hundred years, and which is called by all the ancient writers on gardening the Female Paeony. 
It has always been a favourite garden flower, from its hardiness, and its thriving in almost any soil or situation, 
even under the shade of trees, where few other plants will Jive. It is very easily propagated by its tuberous 
roots, and also by its seeds, which it ripens in great abundance. There are numerous varieties of it, with single, 
double, and semi-double flowers, of various shades, from white to crimson ; and it hybridises freely with the 
other hardy species. It is found wild in several parts of Europe ; and it is evidently the species described by 
Dioscorides, which he tells us was used by the physician Paeon to cure Pluto when he was wounded by 
Hercules. Dioscorides calls this the female peeony, and the following species the male ; and Linnaeus makes 
them varieties of one species, which he calls P. officinalis. 
6.— PJEONIA CORALLINA, Retz. THE CORAL-COLOURED P^ONY- 
Synonvmes. — p. officinalis, /3 mascula, Lin. ; the Male Paeony. 1 Specific Charactf.r. — Leaves biternate, smooth ; segments ovate, 
Engravings.— Engl. Bot. t. 1513 ; 2d ed. t. 768. | undivided ; carpels four, downy, recurved. (Smith.) 
Description, &c. — This plant has been as long common in English gardens as the preceding, with which it is 
sometimes confounded; and it has indeed been found wild on an island in the river Severn, though probably its roots 
had been thrown there with the soil from some garden. The flowers are crimson, and the leaves broad, and of a 
dark shining green ; but the most remarkable part is the kind of crest formed by the four woolly carpels after the 
petals have fallen, which was formerly considered so ornamental as to be a favourite plant for putting, with other 
similar strong-growing showy plants, into the large bean-pots which, till nearly the middle of the last century, 
used to be put into the large grates and fire-places during summer and autumn. The plant is frequently 
mentioned in old gardening books as useful for this purpose. The culture is extremely simple, as the species is 
propagated by separating the tubers of the root ; and it will grow in any soil and situation not too moist and 
low. It is found wild in various parts of Europe. 
7.— P.^ONIA RUSSI, Biv. RUSS'S CRIMSON P^ONY. 
Engravings.— Swt. Brit. Flow. Card. t. 122; and out Jiff. 5, in PI. 12. 
Specific Character.— Carpels generally two, pilose, recurved. Segments of the leaves elliptic, entire, somewhat pubescent beneath. 
Description, &c. — The flower of this species is single, and of a bright crimson ; and as, though the flowers 
arc solitary, several stems arise from the same root, it is generally grown by the cultivators of handsome 
slirubbery-flowering plants. Its leaves arc generally whitish underneath, and of a pale green on the upper side. 
