Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/800

786 PJEONY petals having yellow edges. The purple psBony is P. peregrina (also called P. paradoxa), from the Levant ; its leaves are three-parted, with the divisions cut into many lobes, glaucous Common Pseony (Pseonia officinalis). ahove, and pale and more or less downy be- neath ; the flowers are smaller than in the com- mon species, and purplish red, with the petals cut on the margins ; it has produced varieties of other colors, and some, especially fimbriata, in which the petals are conspicuously fringed. The slender-leaved psBony (P. tenuifolia also Slender-leaved Pseony (Pseonia tenulfolia). called the fennel-leaved, is, as its name indi- cates, very different from the others in foliage, the leaves being much divided into slender, al- most thread-like lobes. This is a native of Si- beria, and a very beautiful species ; it seldom grows over 18 in. high, and with its dark crim- son flowers, much smaller than in the other species, contrasted with the delicately cut foli- age, it appears very unlike a paeony ; there is a variety with double flowers. The Chinese pseony (P. albiflora), also called white-flowered, fragrant, and edible pseony, is a native of Si- beria, and has long been in cultivation ; it dif- fers from all of the preceding in having several flowers upon each stem, and smooth pods ; it grows about 3 ft. high, and has bright green foliage and flowers, rather smaller than those of the common species. The wild flowers are white, but its varieties present a great diversity in color from white and rose color to purple, and some have yellowish and salmon-colored petals ; some are sweet-scented, and many are double. This species has produced many more, varieties than either of the others, some of which, having originated in China, have been regarded as species ; some of the sorts are of great beauty, showing a blending of various shades or a contrast of different colors in the Tree Paeony (Pseonia moutan). same flower. Of the older varieties, one of the most remarkable is Humei, with very large pur- plish rose-colored flowers, so thoroughly dou- ble that they produce no seed ; Pottsii has the darkest crimson flowers ; and WMtleyi and f es- tiva are white-flowered and fragrant. The tree poeony (P. moutan) is shrubby ; on this account, and as the disk at the base of the ovaries, which in the herbaceous species is a mere ring, in this is developed to form a thin fleshy sac, covering the five or more ovaries, it has been placed in a distinct genus, moutan; but the best author- ities retain it as a pceonia. The specific name, moutan, is said to be from the Chinese meu- tang, meaning the king of flowers. In our gardens it is seldom more than 3 ft. high, but it is said to reach 10 ft. in China, where as well as in Japan it is a favorite plant. It forms by branching near the base a hemispher- ical bush, which when covered with a profu- sion of large flowers presents a splendid ap- pearance. The ample leaves are of a pale glau- cous color; the flowers, which are 6 in. or more across, are single or double, and present