(1826)  Page(s) tab 11.  Includes photo(s).
 
PAEONIA OFFICINALIS Rubra.
Double Red Officinal Paeony.

POLYANDRIA. Class 13.
DIGYNIA. Order 2.
PAEONIA of Pliny ; Пαιονια of Hippocrates and Dioscorides : from Paeon, a famous physician of antiquity.
Linn. gen. n. 678. Linn. spec. 747.

GENERIC CHARACTER.
Cal. Perianth five-leaved, small, permanent ; leaflets roundish, concave, reflex, unequal in size and situation. Cor. Petals five, roundish, concave, narrower at the base, spreading, very large. Stam. Filaments numerous, capillary, short. Anthers oblong, quadrangular, erect, four-celled, large. Pist. Germs two, ovate, erect, tomentose. Styles none. Stigmas compressed, oblong, blunt, coloured. Per. Capsules as many, ovate-oblong, spreading and reflex, tomentose, one-celled, one-valved, opening longitudinally inwards. Seeds several, oval, shining, coloured, fastened to the opening suture.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
Leaves doubly-pinnate, sublobed. Leaflets oblong, veined underneath.

The roots are composed of many roundish thick knobs or tubers, which are attached to each other by fibres. The branches are about two or two feet and a half in height. The leaves are much lobed, and variously cut into segments. Flowers solitary, large, and of a fine deep crimson.
Of the varieties of Paeonia officinalis, Mr. Sabine, in a paper in the Horticultural Transactions, vol. ii. on the double herbaceous Paeonias, mentions three — P. officinalis rubra, P. officinalis carnescens, and P. officinalis albicans. The first of these (which is here figured), although seen in almost every garden, should not on that account be omitted from a publication like the present, nor should it detract from its merits as an ornamental plant. Mr. Sabine has observed, " It is singular that none of the beautiful tribe here noticed has been figured in publications of later years."
This plant is of strong growth, and rises to the height of from two to three feet, with numbers of beautiful red flowers appearing in the months of May and June ; and as it grows freely in common borders, is a desirable plant to add gaiety to the shrubbery. The roots are very prolific, in large clusters of tubers, which, if separated in September or early in October, will flower the succeeding summer, provided each of the tubers have eyes to shoot from. This variety being double, and deficient of stamens and pistils, cannot produce seeds; consequently can only be increased by the roots. The single-flowered of this species is seldom cultivated, and until recently was rarely met with ; its habit of growth is very similar to the double, but the flowers are not so conspicuous.
It is a native of the South of Europe, and was cultivated in this country in 1560. It is supposed to be the Paeonia mentioned by Pliny as noted for its medicinal properties.

(1826)  Page(s) tab 13.  Includes photo(s).
 
PAEONIA MOUTAN.
Shrubby Paeony.

POLYANDRIA. Class 13.
DIGYNIA. Oder 2.

GENERIC CHARACTER.
(Vide Paeonia officinalis Rubra. PI. 11.)

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
Stem woody, perennial. Leaflets oblong, ovate, glaucous, and somewhat hairy beneath ; the terminal one three-lobed. Germens numerous, distinct.

Branches shrubby and numerous, forming a handsome bush of the height of from six to ten feet. Leaves on long stalks, alternate, spreading, and deciduous; leaflets ternate in an opposite direction, lobed, veined, and glaucous underneath; the terminal leaflets three-lobed. Leaf-buds scaly, of a fine pink colour. Flowers terminating the branches, solitary, from five to eight or even ten inches in diameter, always double, composed of many jagged rose-coloured petals : the stamens appear partially in the centre of the flower ; anthers yellow ; germs uncertain in their appearance. The flower possesses a rather sickly odour.
Among the Chinese, a doubt exists concerning the origin of this magnificent shrub : some writers suppose it to have been obtained from the common Paeony by a particular process of culture ; others affirm, with more probability, that it was discovered growing in the mountains of Northern China ; that after its introduction into the southern provinces it became a general favourite among the florists, and that numerous varieties were consequently raised. So much prized were some of these, that they sold in China for a hundred ounces of gold. It is very generally cultivated, and flourishes in the province of Lo-Yang. In England there are but two species of the shrubby Paeony, — that which is here figured and P. papaveracea, which has a large single flower, and was introduced by Sir Abraham Hume. Of P. Moutan a variety has been obtained which is named P. Moutan rosea: it differs in the flowers, which are of a somewhat darker red. Notwithstanding the exertions of many botanists who have sent collectors to China, numerous varieties of this beautiful shrub have not yet been obtained. These varieties are frequently depicted by the Chinese in various ornamental branches of art, as double flowers in the different colours of pink, purple, crimson, yellow, and white ; but the jealousy which the Chinese have ever entertained towards the English, and indeed towards foreigners generally, has hitherto frustrated the arduous exertions of botanists to obtain these splendid ornaments. The cunning and duplicity of the Chinese are such, that many specimens which have been imported as new, have proved on flowering to be such only as were already possessed by this country. There are, however, some imported plants of this shrub having the appearance of novelty now in the possession of the Horticultural Society, who have with much zeal endeavoured to obtain some of the valuable incognita of that country. The Moutan may truly be accounted one of the most ornamental shrubs in our gardens : it is sufficiently hardy to stand the winters of this country. The spring of the year, when it puts forth its shoots, is the time it is susceptible of injury from the weather, when the covering of a mat at night will be found a sufficient guard. The flowers, which appear during the months of May and June, give splendour to the shrub, not only by their individual beauty, but by their great profusion.
This shrub thrives best in a situation somewhat sheltered, and in earth composed of a rich loam, rotten leaves, and a small portion of sand. It is propagated by laying, early in the spring ; and in the autumn of the following year the layers may be taken off and potted. If these have a little protection by frames during the succeeding winter, and are kept one year in pots, they will become fine established plants, and may with safety be planted in the shrubbery or pleasure-ground.
This plant was introduced by the late Sir Joseph Banks in 1794.

(1826)  Page(s) tab 11.  
 
Paeonia Officinalis Rubra....The single-flowered of this species is seldom cultivated, and until recently was rarely met with ; its habit of growth is very similar to the double, but the flowers are not so conspicuous.