by Harvey Buchite

This peony known since ancient times was the first one named by Linnaeus. It is found growing in northern Italy, along the Dalmatian coast of Yugoslavia, Albania, eastern Serbia, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, and France. The variation in plants across this wide geographical range has caused them to be considered different species at some time during their history. I'll describe the closely related species and sub-species of this group, since the trend of modern taxonomists is to reduce the number of species and consider them sub-species or varieties of a species.

The most commonly cultivated form of P. officinalis is the red double, P. officinalis rubra plena, which is quite red compared to the wild single forms. The red double form has been grown for many years in the United States as the Memorial Day Peony. It is nearly always in bloom at this particular date each spring. It is a deep crimson red with a full double bloom. It makes a good cut flower when cut just about 2/3 open. In addition it has a pleasant fragrance. There are no other double flowered garden peonies in bloom at this time so that they help extend your peony season by about 10 days. There has been some speculation that this ancient variety could actually be a hybrid. There are also a double pink, P. officinalis rosea plena, and a double white, P. officinalis alba plena, which are similar in all qualities except flower, color. A fourth one in this group is P. officinalis anemoneflora that has rose magenta flowers with a gold and red center tuft and a compact growth habit of about 16". It is a very attractive plant in flower. Some named varieties include; "China Rose" a salmon pink single, "Crimson Globe" a garnet red single, "James Crawford Weguelin" a garnet red single, and "Lize van Veen" a white flushed pink double.

In 1850 there were as many as 50 varieties of P. officinalis listed in nursery offerings in France. And until the 1930's they were available still, but, once the Chinese peony, P. lactiflora, was introduced with its fragrant flowers, more than one bud per stem and a wide variety of colors and forms the officinalis peonies with only one flower per stem lost favor and were replaced in gardens by the Chinese peony. No doubt some of these old varieties exist in European gardens yet today, as the species is certainly one known for its vigor and long life.

Modern gardeners are once again looking for plants of P. officinalis and especially its hybrids because of their saturated colors and early bloom habit to extend the peony bloom season by as much as two weeks. No longer is it out with the old and in with the new, but a closer look at the qualities that make each variety worthy of garden space.

The single flower form of the species itself is really a beautiful flower. The plant grows 14 to 24" tall and has magenta-red flowers 3 1/2" - 5" across with wide spreading petals. There are also pink and white flower forms that occur naturally. The stems are red when they emerge in the spring, and later turn to a deep green. The stems are strong but are spreading so that the plant can easily occupy 4 feet square. Leaves have from 14 - 35 segments each. The plant is very hardy to -25 degrees F. or colder, as we well know in Minnesota. The species has been used for developing the modern American Hybrid peony. In its single form it is used to get vibrant red colored flowers and in the double form which passes on the trait for doubleness to its offspring.

The root structure is characterized by dahlia like tuberous roots connected by a thin string like root attachment at the crown that has a few large eyes. These are strong growing plants in the garden. This species is a tetraploid with 20 chromosomes.

The sub-species P. officinallis subs. banaticus with its 3 -5" rose-red flowers is found growing in Hungary, Croatia, and Romania. It shares characteristics of both P. officinallis and P. mascula and along with P. mascula has been found growing in and around old monastery sites in Europe where it may have escaped from cultivation. It grows 14-20" tall and stems have 12 - 15 leaflets each. Some believe it to be a hybrid also. It too is known from ancient times.

P. officinalis subsp. microcarpa grows in southwest Europe from central Spain to the borders of Portugal, to Southern France and is only 10 -16 inches tall. The 3.5 - 5.5" flowers are magenta-red. The leaves can have as many as 30 elliptic sharply pointed segments. It is noted as an easy to grow garden subject. At one time this was given the species name, Paeonia humilis.

Peony officinalis subs. villosa has similarly colored flowers but is different from the above sub-species in that it has hairy seed pods, undersides of the leaves are more hairy and is the latest of the group to flower in the garden. It is found growing in southern France and neighboring Italy. Both P. o. microcarpa and P. o. villosa are quite compact and should fit into the front of a garden border more easily than some of the larger peonies we grow. The seedlings I am growing of them also have a wonderful purple cast to the young shoots when they emerge in the spring making them most attractive in the early garden.

Despite the experts lumping all these together as only sub-species it is interesting to note that as small seedlings all are quite different looking and each has a special character of their own. I have been growing species peonies from seed for over ten years now and it is fascinating to see the differences in plant habit.

The last 3 closely related peonies to P. officinallis are P. clusii from the island of Crete which has 3-4" white flowers, 8-12" stems that are pink to purple with leaves that are much divided so that you may find as many as 40-80 leaflets per stem. There is a slightly larger form called P. clusii subs. rhodia. It has 10 chromosomes. I am not aware of anyone growing this plant in the midwest part of the United States.

The last one to mention in this group is the really charming P. mollis. Charming because it has the most beautiful blue-green dusty foliage on compact plants 18" tall with a clear rosy pink flower. The literature mentions the flowers can vary from red to white. It has never been found in the wild and came to Europe via Russia. I have only observed the rosy pink form of this plant in our area. Some gardeners have reported it as being tolerant of shade conditions during part of the day. Some peony specialists believe that it is not all that closely related to the P. officinalis group. From my observations it is more upright in its plant habit than most of the others in this group.

While generally speaking peonies should be grown in full sun for best performance the "Officinalis" species look good planted on a sunny woodland border in a more informal or cottage garden planting. None, but the double forms would need staking. I can say these peonies are easy to care for and are very sturdy and garden hardy plants with the exception of P. clusii and P. clusii subs. rhodia which I have not grown and have never seen offered for sale. Judging from their native habitat in Mediterranean type conditions I would think they would prove a challenge for our members to grow in our climate.

If there is any criticism to be given P. officinalis and its close relatives it is that like the fern leaf peony the foliage may begin to take on fall color sooner than the Chinese Peonies, although I find them well deserving of the garden space I have given them in my garden. For their richness of flower color and earliness of bloom they are a wonderful addition to the peony garden.