| Paeonia officinalis | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Saxifragales |
| Family: | Paeoniaceae |
| Genus: | Paeonia |
| Species: | P. officinalis |
| Binomial name | |
| Paeonia officinalis | |
Paeonia officinalis, thecommon peony,[1] orgarden peony,[2] is aspecies offlowering plant in thefamily Paeoniaceae,native to mainly mountainous areas of Southern Europe and introduced inCentral andWestern Europe and North America.[3]
Paeonia officinalis was first used for medicinal purposes, then grown as an ornamental. Many selections are now used in horticulture, though the typical species is uncommon.Paeonia officinalis is still found wild in Europe.[4]
Thecultivar 'Rubra Plena' (deep crimson double flowered) has gained theRoyal Horticultural Society'sAward of Garden Merit.[5]
It is aherbaceousperennial growing to 60–70 cm (24–28 in) tall and wide, with leaves divided into 9 leaflets, and bowl-shaped deep pink or deep red flowers, 10–13 cm (4–5 in) in diameter, in late spring (May in the Northern Hemisphere).[6]
The common peony is native to Europe in Spain, northern Portugal and southern France, Italy, Switzerland, western Romania and theBalkan peninsula and possibly northern Greece (Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 1998, Lupo Osti 2006, Aghababian 2011, GRIN 2014). It is widely cultivated elsewhere, but considered a native endemic of Europe.[3]
There are six known subspecies:
Manysynonyms exist forPaeonia officinalis, i.e.Moutan officinalis,Paeonia anemoniflora,P. barrii,P. baxteri,P. commutata,P. elegans,P. feminea,P. festiva,P. fimbrata,P. foemina,P. fulgens,P. fulgida,P. hirsuta,P. lanceolata,P. lobata,P. mollis,P. nemoralis,P. paradoxa var.fimbrata,P. peregrina var.officinalis,f.officinalis,P. porrigens,P. promiscua,P. pubens,P. rubens,P. sessiliflora,P. splendens,P. subternata,P. versicolor.[citation needed]
The common peony is anallotetraploid with two double sets of chromosomes from different parents (2n+2m=20), so it is a hybrid ornothospecies. One of the parents is most likelyPaeonia peregrina. The other parent is one of the group of very closely related species,Paeonia parnassica,P. arietina andP. humilis. Both these parents are tetraploids themselves.P. officinalis has by far the most extensive range and is one of the more abundant species in the Mediterranean region.[15]
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