Paeonia suffruticosa

Paeonia suffruticosa is a name used for a group of culture varieties of tree peonies that are the result of hybridisation with species exclusively belonging to the subsection Vaginatae. The common name used in China is mǔdān (Chinese: 牡丹). Plants belonging to this group have been cultivated for millennia in China, initially only as a source of traditional Chinese medicine particularly the skin of its roots (牡丹皮; mǔdān pí). Already early on the plant was also cultivated for its ornamental value, and it is highly revered in Chinese culture. Paeonia suffruticosa is the name used for most tree peony cultivars, but is not a naturally occurring species. So it can be regarded as the name for a man-made hybrid swarm. Genetic analysis has shown that five species of the subsection Vaginatae together make up the parentage of the tree peony cultivars created before World War II. In over three quarters of the almost fifty studied cultivars, the DNA of their chloroplasts is identical to that in Paeonia cathayana, indicating that this species is the original maternal parent. Almost all of the remaining cultivars has chloroplast DNA identical to that in P. qiui, and rarely from P. ostii and partially from Paeonia rotundiloba. In the nuclear DNA however, homology with Paeonia rockii is largest, with lesser contributions from P. qiui, P. ostii, P. cathayana and P. jishanensis. Paeonia decomposita is the only species from the Vaginatae that has not contributed to these cultivars. Crossbreeding of yellow-flowered P. delavayi with traditional double-flowered P. suffruticosa cultivars by Victor Lemoine in Nancy has led to the introduction of the color yellow into the cultivated double-flowered tree-peonies. These hybrids are known as the Paeonia × lemoinei group, and include double-flowered ‘Chromatella’ (1928), ‘Alice Harding’ (1935) and semidouble-flowered ‘Sang Lorraine’ (1939). The semi-double, lemon-yellow P. × lemoinei cultivar ‘High Noon’ has gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit. In 1948 horticultulturist Toichi Itoh from Tokyo used pollen from ‘Alice Harding’ to fertilize the herbaceous P. lactiflora ‘Katoden’, which resulted in a new category of peonies, the Itoh or intersectional cultivars. These are herbaceous, have leaves like tree peonies, with many large flowers from late spring to early autumn, and good peony wilt resistance. Some of the early Itoh cultivars are ‘Yellow Crown’, ‘Yellow Dream’, ‘Yellow Emperor’ and ‘Yellow Heaven’. Cultivated hybrid tree peonies originate from China and its surrounding areas, possessing significant cultural meaning throughout Chinese history. Currently there are about 600 Chinese tree peony cultivars. Since its introduction abroad, a few unique cultivar groups have been bred in France, Britain, the United States, and some other countries. This species is less common in U.S, but it can generally be found in plant nurseries. Paeonia suffruticosa, also known as the tree peony, originates from China. Sometimes, people refer to these tree peonies as “Chinese tree peonies.” Paeonia suffruticosa belongs to the peony family. The most distinctive feature is that Paeonia suffruticosa is a bush or a tree, whereas most peonies are herbaceous. Despite their classification as trees, it is the flowers that attract people's attention. Peonies are generally slow to grow and have flowers that only last briefly and are fragile under weather conditions such as wind, rain or hot temperatures. In comparison, Paeonia suffruticosa, as a tree, survives longer than the rest of the peonies. The woody stems of tree peonies allow the plant to survive in winter. In general, the plant is long-lived, and the flowers bloom longer in the early spring. The name Paeonia suffruticosa is derived from two different sources. The genus name Paeonia derives from the name Paeon. In Greek mythology, Paeon was a disciple of the god of medicine, Ascleplus. The species name 'suffruticosa' is composed of two parts. The first part 'suf-' is only a prefix; the second part 'fruticosa', means shrub-like.