What is Herbaceous Peony？

As we all know, herbaceous peony is a kind of traditional Chinese medicine, and has a great effect. Herbaceous peony is so gorgeous and beautiful that it can even be compared with peony. So do you know about herbaceous peony?

Morphological Characteristics of Herbaceous Peony

Herbaceous peony is a shrub, subshrub or perennial herb. Its roots are composed of root neck, tuber root and fibrous root. The root neck is the uppermost part of the root, with buds. Root tubers grow from the lower part of the root neck. They are fleshy, rough, long-column or spindle-shaped and nutritious. The fibrous roots mainly grow from the roots, and their main function is to absorb water and nutrients.

The leaves of herbaceous peony have two or three pinnate compound leaves. The leaves are 20 to 24 centimeters long. The shape of the leaflets is oval, lanceolate or narrowly ovate. The front end of the leaves is sharp. The edges of the leaves are dense with white fine teeth. The color of the leaves is yellow-green, dark-green and so on.

Flowers of herbaceous peony are usually grown alone at the top of the stem or near the leaf axil. Flowers of the original species are white, 8 to 11 cm in diameter, 5 to 13 petals, obovate.

Geographical Distribution of Herbaceous Peony

There are about 35 species of herbaceous peony distributed in the North Temperate Zone, most of them in Asia, and some of them in Southern Europe and Western North America. There are 11 species in China, mainly distributed in the southwest and northwest regions, and a few species are also distributed in the northeast, North China and the provinces along the Yangtze River. P. suffruticosa and P. lactiflora are one of the main medicinal materials in China. They are cultivated in many areas of the country, especially in Sichuan, Henan, Shandong, Anhui and Zhejiang.

Growth Environment of Herbaceous Peony

Wild herbaceous peony grows on grasses and mountain sunny slopes of 2300-3700 meters above sea level. Herbaceous peony grows on a hillside between 2400 and 3100 meters above sea level, in grasslands or jungles along rivers in Sichuan. Peony is cultivated widely in China and has been introduced abroad. In these cultivation type, it can be divided into hundreds of varieties mainly depending on the color of the flower. There are eight and six varieties of herbaceous peony. The suitable cultivation area of Paeonia lactiflora is between N 30°  and N 40°.  Open-pit cultivation requires sufficient natural low temperature accumulation in winter to complete the vernalization process and break the dormancy. Most areas of North China, Central China and East China are suitable cultivation areas for herbaceous peony, but the south of Nanling Mountains is not suitable for open-air cultivation.

Herbaceous peony is a very beautiful ornamental plant, well-known at home and abroad. And the ancients evaluated the flower: P. suffruticosa first, P. lactiflora second, so-called P. suffruticosa for the flower king, P. lactiflora for the flower prime minister.