荷兰芍药及其品种：Species Peonies: Paeonia officinalis Group
2014-04-01 09:34阅读：
Species Peonies: Paeonia officinalis Group
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.
