''Paeonia emodi'' is a robust
herbaceous perennial plant
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...
that winters with buds underground (a so-called
hemicryptophyte), has large white flowers and large deeply incised leaves, and belongs to the family
Paeoniaceae
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, ...
. Its local vernacular names include mamekhor or mamekh (Punjabi), ood-e-saleeb (Urdu) meaning "with-a-cross", ood salap (Hindi), mid (in Kashmir) and 多花芍药 (duo hua shao yao) meaning "multi-flower peony" (in Chinese). In English it is sometimes called Himalayan peony. It is among the tallest of the herbaceous
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 1½ m.
Description
The Himalayan peony is a
diploid nothospecies #REDIRECT Hybrid name
In botanical nomenclature, a hybrid may be given a hybrid name, which is a special kind of botanical name, but there is no requirement that a hybrid name should be created for plants that are believed to be of hybrid origin. T ...
with ten chromosomes (2n=10), that results from hybridisation between ''P. lactiflora'' and ''P. mairei''.
This large species of
perennial
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wid ...
herbaceous peony with hairless stems of 60–150 cm high, has large deep-cut leaves of 30–60 cm long, with up to fifteen hairless, lanceolate pointed leaflets or lobes of up to 14 cm. The stems may carry two to four buds, not all of which always develop into flowers of 8–12 cm in diameter in May or June. Three to six bracts which look like leaflets subtend each flower. The mostly three persistent
sepal
A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coine ...
s are approximately circular and convex-concave with a pointed tip. Five to ten white elliptical
petals are inverted egg-shaped, 4½×2½ cm, encircle many
stamens consisting of filaments of 1½–2 cm long and topped by yolk yellow anthers. There is a short ring-shaped disc which encircles the very base of only one, sometimes two, pale yellow
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, mostly covered in felty hairs. This develops into a densely hairy or hairless
follicle of 2–3½ cm, which contains several roundish seeds which are scarlet at first but turn brownish black if fertile in August or September.
Differences with related species
''Paeonia emodi'' is much alike ''P. sterniana'', having white flowers with entirely yellow stamens, and segmented leaflets. ''P. emodi'' however is with up to 1 m much taller, has only one or rarely two carpels developing per flower which are softly hairy, has several flowers per stem, and ten to fifteen segments in each lower leaf, while in ''P. sterniana'' flowers are solitary, have two to four hairless carpels and the lower leaves consist of twenty to forty segments and lobes.
[ ''cited on'' ] The seeds ''P. emodi'' ripen much later than those of ''P. sterniana'', which are already shed in August.
Taxonomy
''Paeonia emodi'' was first mentioned in the ''Numerical List of dried specimens of plants in the East India Company's Museum: collected under the superintendence of
Dr. Wallich of the Company's botanic garden at Calcutta'' of 1831. In 1834,
John Forbes Royle
John Forbes Royle (10 May 1798 – 2 January 1858), British botanist and teacher of materia medica, was born in Kanpur (then Cawnpore) in 1798. He was in charge of the botanical garden at Saharanpur and played a role in the development of econom ...
validated this name by publishing a proper description of the taxon.
Ernst Huth reduced the taxon to ''P. anomala'' var. ''emodi'' in 1891.
Joseph Dalton Hooker
Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (30 June 1817 – 10 December 1911) was a British botanist and explorer in the 19th century. He was a founder of geographical botany and Charles Darwin's closest friend. For twenty years he served as director of ...
and
Thomas Thomson Thomas Thomson may refer to:
* Tom Thomson (1877–1917), Canadian painter
* Thomas Thomson (apothecary) (died 1572), Scottish apothecary
* Thomas Thomson (advocate) (1768–1852), Scottish lawyer
* Thomas Thomson (botanist) (1817–1878), Scottis ...
distinguished a var. ''glabrata'' in the Flora of British India in 1875, a name that was to be reduced to f. ''glabrata'' by
Hiroshi Hara in 1979. Recent authors do not recognise this taxon.
''
Paeonia sterniana'' is sometimes regarded as a subspecies of ''P. emodi''.
Etymology
''Paeonia emodi'' takes its name from the Latin for Himalaya, ''emodi montes'', where it grows in the western part of the mountain range.
Distribution and habitat
This peony naturally occurs from Afghanistan and southern
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, Taman ...
(
Gyirong County
Gyirong (alternatively romanized as sKyid-grong, Kyirong, ; ) is a county of Xigazê Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region. It is famous because of its mild climatically conditions and its abundant vegetation which is unusual for the Tibetan plate ...
), to western Nepal and grows at an altitude of 1800–2500 m in
thicket
A thicket is a very dense stand of trees or tall shrubs, often dominated by only one or a few species, to the exclusion of all others. They may be formed by species that shed large numbers of highly viable seeds that are able to germinate in t ...
s.
''P. emodi'' is found in deciduous forests of several oak species and ''
Quercus floribunda'', most often on south facing slopes. In
Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...
it occurs together with ''
Impatiens thomsonii'', ''
I. sulcata'', ''
Erigeron multiradiatus'', ''
Viola canescens'', ''
Trifolium pratense
''Trifolium pratense'', the red clover, is a herbaceous species of flowering plant in the bean family Fabaceae, native to Europe, Western Asia, and northwest Africa, but planted and naturalized in many other regions.
Description
Red clove ...
'', ''
Pennisetum flaccidum'', ''
Murdannia divergens'', ''
Euphorbia peplus
''Euphorbia peplus'' (petty spurge, radium weed, cancer weed, or milkweed), is a species of ''Euphorbia'', native to most of Europe, northern Africa and western Asia, where it typically grows in cultivated arable land, gardens and other disturbe ...
'' and ''
Hemiphragma heterophyllum''.
Use
''Paeonia emodi'' is used in traditional medicine in its home range to treat amongst others
diarrhoea
Diarrhea, also spelled diarrhoea, is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements each day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration due to fluid loss. Signs of dehydration often begin wi ...
,
high blood pressure,
congestive heart failure
Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, ...
,
palpitation
Palpitations are perceived abnormalities of the heartbeat characterized by awareness of cardiac muscle contractions in the chest, which is further characterized by the hard, fast and/or irregular beatings of the heart.
Symptoms include a rapi ...
,
asthma
Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, co ...
and
arteriosclerosis
Arteriosclerosis is the thickening, hardening, and loss of elasticity of the walls of arteries. This process gradually restricts the blood flow to one's organs and tissues and can lead to severe health risks brought on by atherosclerosis, which ...
. The parts of this plant contain chemical compounds such as
triterpene
Triterpenes are a class of chemical compounds composed of three terpene units with the molecular formula C30H48; they may also be thought of as consisting of six isoprene units. Animals, plants and fungi all produce triterpenes, including squa ...
s,
monoterpene
Monoterpenes are a class of terpenes that consist of two isoprene units and have the molecular formula C10H16. Monoterpenes may be linear (acyclic) or contain rings (monocyclic and bicyclic). Modified terpenes, such as those containing oxygen func ...
glucosides and
phenols
In organic chemistry, phenols, sometimes called phenolics, are a class of chemical compounds consisting of one or more hydroxyl groups (— O H) bonded directly to an aromatic hydrocarbon group. The simplest is phenol, . Phenolic compounds are ...
.
Extract of the root stabilises heart beat rates, relaxes the airways and reduces blood clotting. Paeoninol and paeonin C from the fruit inhibit
lipoxygenase
Lipoxygenases () are a family of (non-heme) iron-containing enzymes most of which catalyze the dioxygenation of polyunsaturated fatty acids in lipids containing a cis,cis-1,4- pentadiene into cell signaling agents that serve diverse roles as aut ...
, an enzyme that produces substances associated with asthma, inflammation, and the
growth of bloodvessels in tumors. Paeoninol and paeonin C are active as
antioxidant.
Research illustrated that an ethanol extract of ''P. emodi'' suppressed the growth of
common duckweed (50% at 50μg/ml), and was moderately effective in killing some insects (
red flour beetle
The red flour beetle (''Tribolium castaneum'') is a species of beetle in the family Tenebrionidae, the darkling beetles. It is a worldwide pest of stored products, particularly food grains, and a model organism for ethological and food safety r ...
). No inhibition of the growth of bacteria and fungi could be demonstrated, and
no general toxicity was
observed in brine shrimps, suggesting it may be safe to use.
Cultivation
US Chemistry 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 1,5 m), richly flowering and well known cultivar.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1023699
emodi
Garden plants of Asia
Flora of Afghanistan
Flora of West Himalaya
Flora of Nepal
Flora of Tibet
Plants described in 1834