Paeonia emodi
| Paeonia emodi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Core eudicots |
| Order: | Saxifragales |
| Family: | Paeoniaceae |
| Genus: | Paeonia |
| Species: | P. emodi |
| Binomial name | |
| Paeonia emodi Wall. ex Royle | |
Paeonia emodi, is a robust herbaceous plant that winters with buds underground (as so-called hemicryptophyte), has large white flowers and large deeply incised leaves, belonging to the peonies. Its local vernacular names include mamekhor or mamekh (Punjabi), ood-e-saleeb (Urdu) meaning "with-a-cross", ood salap (Hindi), and mid (in Kashmir). In English it is sometimes called Himalayan peony.[1] It is among the tallest of the Peony species, and, while cold-hardy, it grows better in warm temperate climates. It is a parent of the popular hybrid "White Innocence", which reaches 1.5 m.[2]
Description
The Himalayan peony is a large species of perennial herbaceous peony, which has large deep-cut leaves of 30–60 cm long, with lanceolate pointed leaflets or lobes of up to to 14 cm. The flowers are 8–12 cm in diameter, with 5 persistent sepals, 5–10 white elliptical petals, many orange to yellow stamens and mostly only one carpel, sometimes two. This develops into a densely hairy or hairless follicle of 3–4 cm, which contains several seeds which are scarlet at first but later turn brownish black.[1]
Etymology
Paeonia emodi takes its name from the Latin for Himalaya, "emodi montes", where it grows in the western part of the mountain range.[3]
Distribution
This peony naturally occurs from Afghanistan to western Nepal and grows at an altitude of 1800-2500 m.[1]
Cultivation
US Chemisty professor and peony breeder Arthur Percy Saunders made a cross between P. emodi and P. lactiflora that is now known as "White Innocence" (1947), an extremely high (up to 1 m), richly flowering and well known cultivar.
References
- 1 2 3 Zargar, Bilal A.; Masood, Mubashir H.; Khan, Bahar Ahmed; Akbar, Seema (2013). "Paeonia emodi Royle: Ethnomedical uses, phytochemistry and pharmacology". Phytochemistry Letters 6: 261–266. Retrieved 2016-04-27.
- ↑ Halda, Josef J.; Waddick, James W. (2004). The Genus Paeonia. Timber Press. p. 201. ISBN 978-0-88192-612-5.
- ↑ Page, Martin (1997). The Gardener's Guide to Growing Peonies. David & Charles. ISBN 0-88192-408-3.
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