''Paeonia rockii'', or Rock's peony, is a woody

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of tree peony that was named after

Joseph Rock Joseph Francis Charles Rock (1884 – 1962) was an Austrian-American botanist, List of explorers, explorer, geographer, linguistics, linguist, ethnographer and photographer. Life Josef Franz Karl Rock was born in Vienna, Austria, the son of a s ...

. It is one of several species given the

vernacular Vernacular is the ordinary, informal, spoken language, spoken form of language, particularly when perceptual dialectology, perceived as having lower social status or less Prestige (sociolinguistics), prestige than standard language, which is mor ...

name tree peony, and is native to the mountains of

Gansu Gansu is a provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Ti ...

and adjoining provinces in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. In Chinese, it is known as ().

Uses

''Paeonia rockii'' is cultivated as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...

in Asia and the west. Like '' Paeonia lactiflora'', another Chinese peony species, it is used as a herbal remedy in

traditional Chinese medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medicine, alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. A large share of its claims are pseudoscientific, with the majority of treatments having no robust evidence ...

Features

''Paeonia rockii'' is known for the obvious black, purple, and brown-red spots at the base of petals. Its main features are: * Tall plant, can reach high, crown width . * Big and bright flower, the diameter can reach . * Strong fragrance; the smell of one open flower can dominate that of ten other open flowers from another peony. * Resistance to drought and frost; tolerance of salt and base. Can bear temperatures as low as ; can still grow normally at pH above 7.

Rockii hybrids

Tree peony hybrids with ''Paeonia rockii'' as one parent are called Rockii hybrids. In China there are several cultivar groups of these hybrids, called Gansu Mudan and Zhongyuan Mudan, or North-West Chinese cultivar group. The European-grown Suffruticosa Group ( ''Paeonia'' × ''suffruticosa'') also belongs here. File:Paeonia rockii bud 2015 G1.jpg, Bud File:Paeonia rockii 2013 G1.jpg, Fruit Paeonia rockii Piwonia Rock'a 2021-05-26 01.jpg, Flower Arboretum Ellerhoop - Paeonia rockii.jpg, Flowering Tree peony (Paeonia rockii)

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2671785 rockii Garden plants Medicinal plants Endemic flora of China