''Paeonia delavayi'' is a low woody shrub belonging to the
peonies
The peony or paeony is a flowering plant in the genus ''Paeonia'' , the only genus in the family Paeoniaceae . Peonies are native to Asia, Europe and Western North America. Scientists differ on the number of species that can be distinguished, ...
, that is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. The vernacular name in China is 滇牡丹 (diān mǔdan). In English it is called Delavay's tree peony, Delavay peony, Dian peony, and dian mu dan. It mostly has red brown to yellow, nodding flowers from mid May to mid June. The light green, delicate looking
deciduous
In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...
leaves consist of many segments, and are alternately arranged on new growth.
Description
''Paeonia delavayi'' is a
deciduous
In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...
hairless shrub of ¼-1¾ m high. Plants have creeping
stolon
In biology, stolons (from Latin '' stolō'', genitive ''stolōnis'' – "branch"), also known as runners, are horizontal connections between organisms. They may be part of the organism, or of its skeleton; typically, animal stolons are external s ...
s and the roots are thick because they are fused together. It mainly
reproduces by growing into large
clones
Clone or Clones or Cloning or Cloned or The Clone may refer to:
Places
* Clones, County Fermanagh
* Clones, County Monaghan, a town in Ireland
Biology
* Clone (B-cell), a lymphocyte clone, the massive presence of which may indicate a pathologi ...
like this. Young twigs are light green, or tinged purple, rarely branching, erect, generally on top of perennial, stick-like, grayish to light brown stems. In lower plants, woody parts may not be present above ground. Like all diploid peonies, it has ten chromosomes (2n=10).
Leaves
The leaves are arranged
alternately around the stem. In the lower leaves the
leaf stalk
In botany, the petiole () is the stalk that attaches the leaf blade to the stem, and is able to twist the leaf to face the sun. This gives a characteristic foliage arrangement to the plant. Outgrowths appearing on each side of the petiole in so ...
is 10–15 cm long and the leaf blade is oval in outline, 15–30 cm long and 10–22 cm wide, twice compounded or very deeply incised, first into three to eleven leaflets, themselves deeply divided or lobed into two to eleven secondary lobes (this is called biternate). These are linear to linear-lanceolate in shape and have an entire margin or incidentally may have a few teeth. Usually each lower leaf has between twenty five and one hundred segments (full range 17 to 312). The width of the leaf segments is ½-2¾ cm. Higher along the stem leaves becoming smaller with fewer leaflets and segments.
Flowers
As usual in peonies, there is a gradation between leaves, bracts and sepals. One to five
bract
In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...
s defined as those immediately below the calyx, have various shapes, ranging from incised and leaf-like to entire and sepal-like. Sepals are rounded or triangular-rounded, mostly green, but sometimes with a pink inside, dark red or purple. They have a much broader base and a smaller, narrower, rounded or suddenly pointed (or mucronate) dark green tip. The number of bracts and sepals together varies up to 10 or 11, sometimes forming a less or more conspicuous
involucre
In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or o ...
.
The nodding flowers open from mid May to mid June, are sometimes single but usually two or three together on a branch, one at the end and the others in the
axil
A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, st ...
s of the leaves. The color of the
petal
Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...
s also varies between and within populations from red, dark red, or dark purple-red, mostly in the northeast of the range, and yellow either with or without a dark red spot at the base towards the South and West, and sometimes petals may be yellow with a red margin, orange, green-yellow, or white. The number of sepals ranges from four to thirteen. Flowers have between 25 and 160
stamen
The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10
Morphology and terminology
A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...
s, with yellow, pale red, red, or dark red
filaments topped by yellow, orange, red, or purple
anther
The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10
Morphology and terminology
A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...
s. Although flowers with red-brown petals usually have red to purple filaments and anthers, both filaments and anthers can also be yellow in such flowers. The fleshy
disk
Disk or disc may refer to:
* Disk (mathematics), a geometric shape
* Disk storage
Music
* Disc (band), an American experimental music band
* ''Disk'' (album), a 1995 EP by Moby
Other uses
* Disk (functional analysis), a subset of a vector sp ...
at the base of the carpels is short, ring-shaped or forming a short cylinder 1–3 mm high, with teeth, green, yellowish, yellow, red, or dark red in color. The disk may secrete nectar, which gives off a scent. There are typically two to four, and, rarely, up to eight
carpel
Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils'' ...
s. The ovary is mostly green, but sometimes purple, is topped by a yellow-green, yellow, red, or purple-red stigma, and contains seven to seventeen
ovule
In seed plants, the ovule is the structure that gives rise to and contains the female reproductive cells. It consists of three parts: the ''integument'', forming its outer layer, the ''nucellus'' (or remnant of the megasporangium), and the fe ...
s in each carpel. These develop into fruits (so-called
follicles) which are long ovoid in shape, 2-3½ × 1-1½ cm, which are brown when ripe in August, and contain between one and six brown-black seeds each.
Variability
Putative taxa have been recognized that have been said to differ by the presence of an involucre (''P. delavayi''), maroon-red petals in ''P. delavayi'' and ''P. potaninii'', yellow in ''P. lutea'' and ''P. potaninii'' var. ''trollioides'', white in ''P. potaninii''
forma ''alba'', and narrower leaf segments in ''P. potaninii.
Differences with related species
''Paeonia delavayi'' is closely related to ''
P. ludlowii''. It can be distinguished easily because it reproduces mainly by stolons, has fused roots, stems emerge from the ground individually, is only up to 1¾ m high, has segmented leaves with narrow and acute segments, variously colored petals, stamens, disk, and stigmas, has two to eight carpels, which develop in small follicles (2-3½ × 1-1½ cm) and rarely produce seeds. ''P. ludlowii'' on the other hand can only reproduce by seed and lacks creeping underground stems, has slender, regular roots, while the stems form a clump, grows to 2-3½ m high, has leaves with short and suddenly pointed lobes, petals, stamens, disk and stigmas are always yellow, only one or very rarely two carpels develop but this grows into a much larger follicle (4¾-7 × 2-3⅓ cm) which always develops seeds.
Taxonomy
''Paeonia delavayi'' is problematic because taxonomists differ on the number and status of taxa that should be distinguished in this group.
Taxonomic history
''Paeonia delavayi'' with
maroon
Maroon ( US/ UK , Australia ) is a brownish crimson color that takes its name from the French word ''marron'', or chestnut. "Marron" is also one of the French translations for "brown".
According to multiple dictionaries, there are var ...
-red and ''P. lutea'' with yellow flowers, both from Northwest
Yunnan
Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...
were described respectively by
Adrien René Franchet
Adrien René Franchet (21 April 1834 in Pezou – 15 February 1900 in Paris) was a French botanist, based at the Paris Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle.
He is noted for his extensive work describing the flora of China and Japan, base ...
and
Delavay, on the same page of the same scientific article in 1886. In 1904
Finet and
Gagnepain thought these should both be regarded varieties of ''P. delavayi''.
Komarov described ''P. potaninii'' from West Sichuan in 1921, with smaller, deep maroon-red flowers and narrower leaf segments. In 1931
Stern
The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Ori ...
adds ''P. trollioides'' from Northwest Yunnan with yellow flowers shaped like those of ''
Trollius
''Trollius'' is a genus of about 30 species of flowering plants closely related to ''Ranunculus'', in the family Ranunculaceae. The common name of some species is globeflower or globe flower. The generic name is derived from the Swiss-German word ...
'', growing more erect and having larger fruits, which he reduces to ''P. potaninii'' var. ''trollioides'' in 1946, in addition to recognizing ''P. potaninii'', ''P. delavayi'' and ''P. lutea''. In 1953 Stern in cooperation with
George Taylor described one more taxon, ''P. lutea'' var. ''ludlowii'', discovered in southeastern Tibet. Fang in 1958 agreed with Stern but ignored ''P. lutea'' var. ''ludlowii''. Wu renamed ''P. potaninii'' to ''P. delavayi'' var. ''angustiloba'' and distinguished ''P. lutea'' from ''P. delavayi'' in 1984. In 1990 Gong recognized ''P. delavayi'', ''P. lutea'', ''P. potaninii'', ''P. potaninii'' var. ''trollioides'', and added ''P. potaninii'' forma ''alba'' with white petals. Pan (1979, 1993) on the other hand only recognized ''P. delavayi'' including var. ''lutea'' and var. ''angustiloba'', but did not mention ''P. lutea'' var. ''ludlowii''.
Modern classification
''Paeonia delavayi'' is variable in the number and shape of the leaflets and in the number, size, and color of all parts of the flower both within and between populations. Character states occur in all combinations. Nowadays only one species, ''P. delavayi'', is acknowledged, without infraspecific taxa. ''Paeonia lutea'', ''P. potaninii'', and ''P. trollioides'' are all regarded as synonyms of ''P. delavayi''. ''P. lutea'' var. ''ludlowii'' was shown to differ in a number of characters and is now named ''Paeonia ludlowii''.
Phylogeny
''Paeonia'' is the only genus recognized in the family Paeoniaceae. Three sections are distinguished: an early branching ''Onaepia'' that consists of both native North-American species ''
P. brownii'' and ''
P. californica'', section ''Paeonia'', which comprises all Eurasian herbaceous species, and the section ''
Moutan'', which includes all woody species from China, including Tibet. These relations are represented by the following tree.
Etymology
''Paeonia delavayi'' is named after Father
Jean Marie Delavay, a French Catholic missionary in China, who collected plants.
Distribution
''Paeonia delavayi'' is endemic to southwestern China, where it is limited to
Sichuan
Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...
,
Yunnan
Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...
and the very South-East of
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...
.
Ecology
''Paeonia delavayi'' almost exclusively reproduces through stolons, and seedlings are rare to find. This allows for rapid colonization after a seed has arrived at a new location, such as on newly stabilized debris. In combination with its thick roots this makes this species well adapted to colonize open habitat, that may be prone to drying out quickly. Local populations may consist of only one clone. It grows in light shade such as moist ''
Picea likiangensis
''Picea likiangensis'', commonly known as Lijiang spruce, Lakiang spruce or Lijiang yunshan, is a species of spruce found in Bhutan
Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a lan ...
'' forest or dry and open ''
Pinus densata
''Pinus densata'', commonly known as the Sikang pine, is a species of conifer in the family Pinaceae.
It is endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, ...
''-''
Quercus gilliana'' forest, and sometimes on grassy slopes or in glades. It grows at 2000-3600 m altitude. Insects feed on the fruits and limit seed development.
Conservation
''Paeonia delavayi'' has been listed as
endangered
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...
by the
China Plant Red Data Book, and may be under threat if digging out roots for
medicine
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...
on a large scale is not adequately controlled. However, because it easily reproduces vegetatively and is relatively widely distributed, it may not go extinct shortly if
overexploitation
Overexploitation, also called overharvesting, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to replenish. The term app ...
of the root for medicine will be adequately controlled.
Cultivation
''Paeonia delavayi'' is cultivated as an ornamental in gardens. In China, it is cultivated to produce a traditional medicine. It is said to be grown with ease, preferring a neutral or limy, deep rich soil in sun or partial shade. It is however sensitive to stagnant water at the roots and does best in soils with good drainage, such as in
raised beds. Planting tree peonies in a sheltered position may help to prevent strong winds from breaking branches, particularly during flowering. Tree peonies in general can suffer from peony wilt (''
Botrytis paeoniae'', a grey mould blight) and
verticillium wilt
Verticillium wilt is a wilt disease affecting over 350 species of eudicot plants. It is caused by six species of ''Verticillium'' fungi: ''V. dahliae'', ''V. albo-atrum'', ''V. longisporum'', ''V. nubilum'', ''V. theobromae'' and ''V. tricorpu ...
, which may cause wilting and dieback of young shoots. In infected soils,
honey fungus
''Armillaria'' is a genus of fungi that includes the '' A. mellea'' species known as honey fungi that live on trees and woody shrubs. It includes about 10 species formerly categorized summarily as ''A. mellea''. ''Armillarias'' are long-l ...
can cause instant death.
Culture varieties
Crossbreed
A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. ''Crossbreeding'', sometimes called "designer crossbreeding", is the process of breeding such an organism, While crossbreeding is used to main ...
ing of yellow-flowered ''P. delavayi'' with
double-flowered
"Double-flowered" describes varieties of flowers with extra petals, often containing flowers within flowers. The double-flowered trait is often noted alongside the scientific name with the abbreviation ''fl. pl.'' (''flore pleno'', a Latin ablati ...
''P. suffruticosa'' by Émile Lemoine has led to the introduction of the color yellow into the cultivated double-flowered tree-peonies. These hybrids are known as the ''P. ×lemoinii''-group, and include double-flowered "Chromatella" (1928), "Alice Harding" (1935) and semidouble-flowered "Sang Lorraine" (1939). In 1948 horticultulturist Toichi Itoh from Tokyo used pollen from "Alice Harding" to fertilize the herbaceous ''P. lactiflora'' "Katoden", which resulted in a new category of peonies, the Itoh or intersectional cultivars. These are herbaceous, have leaves like tree peonies, with many large flowers from late spring to early autumn, and good peony wilt resistance. Some of the early Itoh cultivars are "Yellow Crown", "Yellow Dream", "Yellow Emperor" and "Yellow Heaven".
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2665205
delavayi
Garden plants
Flora of China
Plants described in 1892