Home Page

Common Peony

Scientific Name: Paeonia officinalis L.
Synonym: Paeonia banatica, Paeonia fulgida, Paeonia humilis var. illosa , Paeonia humilis, Paeonia microcarpa, Paeonia paradoxa
Family: Paeoniaceae

Paeonia officinalis, Illustrations of the British Flora, Fitch & Smith

Recommended Temperature Zone:
Sunset®: 1-11,14-16
USDA: 6-9a

Sun Exposure: Part sun

Origin: Europe to Central Asia

Growth Habits: Herbaceous perennial, 1 to 2 feet tall (30-60 cm); cluster of thick tuberous roots; leaves palmately divided in narrowly elliptic segments, 3 to 4 inches long (7-10 cm), 1 inch wide (2.5 cm), pubescent undersides

Watering Needs: Regular water during the growing period, dislikes drought condition, as well as wet soils

Propagation: Seeds, division, but the roots dislike disturbances

Paeonia officinalis, Curtis Botanical Magazine

This plant is slightly toxic, but has medicinal properties.
Hortus Third recognizes 4 subspecies: ssp. officinalis (P. fulgida), ssp. banatica (P. banatica), ssp. humilis (P. humilis, P. paradoxa), ssp. villosa (P. humilis var.villosa, P. microcarpa).

Blooming Habits:
Deep red flowers, 3.2 to 5.2 inches wide (8-13 cm). 'Flore Pleno' is a cultivar with double flowers.

List of All the Plants | More in the Paeoniaceae family

Desert-Tropicals is dedicated to provide gardening advice, gardening ideas, and information about flower of all kind for landscape and collections.We try to check carefully the identification of the plants on the illustrations as well as the other information from the page, but occasionally errors do occur. if you notice anything that needs to be changed please contact us.Thanks.