''Paeonia daurica'' subsp. ''mlokosewitschii'', the golden peony or Caucasian peony, is a species of flowering plant native to the

Caucasus Mountains The Caucasus Mountains, : pronounced * hy, Կովկասյան լեռներ, : pronounced * az, Qafqaz dağları, pronounced * rus, Кавка́зские го́ры, Kavkázskiye góry, kɐfˈkasːkʲɪje ˈɡorɨ * tr, Kafkas Dağla ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, and

Dagestan Dagestan ( ; rus, Дагеста́н, , dəɡʲɪˈstan, links=yes), officially the Republic of Dagestan (russian: Респу́блика Дагеста́н, Respúblika Dagestán, links=no), is a republic of Russia situated in the North C ...

, where it grows on rocky slopes in

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

hornbeam Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the flowering plant genus ''Carpinus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The 30–40 species occur across much of the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Origin of names The common English name ''hornbeam' ...

, or

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

forests. The plant is sometimes nicknamed Molly the witch, a humorous mispronunciation of the species name, which most people find difficult to pronounce. It was formerly regarded as a separate

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

, ''Paeonia mlokosewitschii'', but in 2002, the Chinese

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

Hong Deyuan reduced it to a subspecies of ''

Paeonia daurica ''Paeonia daurica'' is a perennial herbaceous plant belonging to the peony family. It has slender carrot-shaped roots, leaves mostly consisting of nine leaflets, with one flower per stem. The flower is subtended by none to two leafy bracts, and ...

''.

Description

It is a

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of t ...

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 ...

growing tall, with

biternate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...

, glaucous leaves with

obovate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...

lobes. In spring it bears large, single, bowl-shaped lemon-yellow flowers in diameter, the

ovary The ovary is an organ in the female reproductive system that produces an ovum. When released, this travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it may become fertilized by a sperm. There is an ovary () found on each side of the body. ...

pubescent, the two to four

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 white, pink or yellow, and the

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 ...

filaments yellow-green. In cultivation in the UK it has been given the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...

’s

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...

Taxonomy

''Paeonia daurica'' subsp. ''mlokosewitschii'' was first described as a species, ''Paeonia mlokosewitchii'', by Aleksandr Lomakin in 1897. It was named after the

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

botanist

Ludwik Młokosiewicz Ludwik Franciszek Młokosiewicz (August 25, 1831 – 1909) was a Polish explorer, zoologist and botanist, who studied extensively in the Caucasus Mountains and discovered various species of plants and animals. Life Młokosiewicz was born in ...

who first discovered it.. p. 134. In 2002, the Chinese botanist Hong Deyuan reduced it to a subspecies of ''

''.

References

External links

Caucasian Representatives of the Genus Paeonia: 5. ''Paeonia mlokosewitschii''Ornamental Plants From Russia: ''Paeonia mlokosewitschii''
*Josef J. Halda and James W. Waddick. ''The Genus Paeonia''. Timber Press. *A. Huxley d.(1992). ''The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening'' 3: 438. Macmillan.
Paeonia
— Pacific Bulb Society
BBC ''Gardener's Question Time'' Factsheet
(1 July 2001) daurica subsp. mlokosewitschii Plant subspecies Flora of the Caucasus {{Saxifragales-stub