The Gardeners' Chronicle (1841-1968) (3 Jul 1909)  Page(s) 2.  Includes photo(s).
 
New or Noteworthy Plants.
Pæonia Veitchii, n. sp.
This new species of Pæonia is a welcome addition to gardens. It is a native of the uplands around Tatien-lu, a district in the far west of China, close to the Tibetan frontier, and is frequently found by the margins of thickets at an elevation of from 8,000 to 11,000 feet. It was introduced by Messrs. James Veitch & Sons through their collector, Mr. Wilson. The plant is so charming and so unlike every other kind, that I think it worthy of bearing the name I have ventured to give it. It does not, of course, compare with the old garden doubles or even with the great singles, but it has attractive features found in no other Pæony. P. Veitchii has been referred to P. anomala, one of the sections in which the leaves are narrowly divided or pinnatisect, but if compared with that or either of the allied kinds, it is found to differ remarkably in bearing several flowers to a stem, in having a light green, brightly-glistening leaf surface both above and below, very distinct elevations of the leaf between the veins, and a different proportion between certain parts of the plant. While the stem of P. anomala—to take this species for comparison—may be 2 feet high and bear 9 or 10 leaves, with the lowest petiole only one-eighth as long as the stem, P. Veitchii, with a stem 2 feet high, has only six or seven leaves, and the petiole of the lowest leaf is one-third or one-fourth, or at least one-sixth as long as the stem that bears it. Again, with regard to the leaf, while P. anomala may have 22 distinct leaf segments, each ¼ inch across, P. Veitchii has 15 segments only, and they are ½ inch across. Comparison with every other species of the genus shows equally marked differences. In its habit of producing from one to four flowers to a stem, it is distinct from all other species except P. albiflora and P. Emodi, neither of which it resembles. The flowers of the genus Pæonia are almost always solitary, and I know of one further exception only, that of a specimen, perhaps abnormal, of either P. peregrina or an ally, which I saw in the Herbarium of the Jardin des Plantes, Paris, some years ago. I have not referred to flower characters because in Pæonia they are not strong; other characters are stronger, and in this genus there is evidence, I believe, that evolution may effect other organs of a plant and leave the flowers unmodified. Quite distinct species of Pæonia may have flowers that are difficult to distinguish in technical terms, and, moreover, the same species may show remarkable variation in a flower character. Two or three species, for instance, may have either glabrous or hairy carpels—usually in other plants a difference of some moment—and yet they may not vary in any other particular. P. Veitchi, however, is quite distinct in the flower, though there are few strong characters for description. In bud, and even when open, the flower, having a slender stalk, is often nodding, and may expand to be quite flat. The flowers are 3¾ inches in diameter and of a slight, yet distinct, purplish-crimson. The accompanying illustration from a photograph taken by my son shows several of the features I have pointed out; it should be explained that the lower leaf belongs to the tall stem and the two lower flowers are on separate stalks, and are put in to show the fully-open and partly-open flower. In the above account I have referred, I think, to all the chief features of contrast with other Pæonies of the sub-genus Pæon, which includes all the herbaceous kinds, and it is, therefore, perhaps unnecessary to give a formal and detailed description. A few words, however, are necessary with reference to the garden value of the plant. It is free-flowering, of very neat and graceful habit, and forms a dense mass of conspicuously light-green, many-pointed foliage. It might, I think, be useful in hybridising for the purpose of reducing the stiffness of the big Pæonies. Last year an assistant made a few crosses, but nothing happened, yet still I think crosses may be possible. The flowers are very bright in colour, and unless required for a very large arrangement, there is no species so suitable for cutting from. They last well in water. P. Veitchii is quite easy to grow in an ordinary border. All Pæonies like rich soil, and they must be well established before they do their best. I have found that they like a little shade, and even planted among the roots of trees they do well. 
R. Irwin Lynch, Botanic Garden, Cambridge.

Revue Horticole (1 May 1914)  Page(s) 196-7.  Includes photo(s).
 
Pæonia Veitchii
Cette Pivoine est une espèce herbacée, découverte en Chine par M. Wilson et mise au commerce dans ces dernières années par la maison Veitch, de Londres. Elle avait été recueillie auparavant par l'abbé Farges, dans le Szé Tchuen oriental, et introduite, dés 1895, dans les cultures d'Europe, par les soins de M. Maurice L. de Vilmorin. Elle a été semée à Verrières sous son nº 1036, et conservée depuis sous le nom provisoire et quelque peu douteux de Pæonia anomala?
C'est cette même plante que nous décrivons aujourd'hui et qui ne diffère aucunement de celle introduite par M. Wilson, dont M. I. Lynch, directeur du jardin botanique de Cambridge, a publié une description et une figure dans le Gardeners' Chronicle (1909, part II, p. 2, fig. 1). Une belle touffe est également représentée dans la liste des nouveautés de la Maison Veitch, automne 1911.
Comparée aux autres Pivoines herbacées, la plante se rapproche le plus du Pæonia anomala dont les feuilles sont plus nombreuses, à pétioles plus courts et à folioles plus nombreuses, mais plus petites et bien plus étroites que chez le Pæonia Veitchii. Elle présente, en outre, un caractère particulièrement distinct, c'est que ses tiges peuvent porter jusqu'à quatre fleurs, caractère qui ne se retrouve que chez les Pivoines de la Chine; enfin, et comme chez ces dernières, elles sont très odorantes.
Si l'on n'envisage que la grandeur des fleurs du Pæonia Veitchi, comparativement à celle des Pivoines herbacées cultivées dans les jardins, et en particulier des magnifiques variétés simples ou doubles de la Pivoine de la Chine, le Pæonia Veitchii peut sembler médiocrement intéressant au seul point de vue décoratif, ses fleurs étant évidemment bien plus petites. Mais si l'on songe aux merveilleux résultats qui ont été obtenus du croisement du Pæonia lutea (dont les fleurs ne sont pas plus grandes) avec le Pæonia Moutan (Pivoine en arbre), il est permis de supposer que la nouvelle venue pourrait produire des hybrides de mérite analogue. Ajoutons que, sous sa forme typique, le Pæonia Veitchii est une plante très robuste, particulièrement vigoureuse et possédant un très beau feuillage, bien distinct de celui de ses congénères, d'un beau vert foncé et très luisant, ainsi qu'en témoigne la forte touffe figurée ci-contre, qui existe dans le rocher de M. de Vilmorin à Verrières. Voici d'ailleurs la description que nous avons prise, sur cet exemplaire, en mai dernier:
Paeonia Veitchii, I. Lynch (l.c.).—Plante herbacée, très rustique et vigoureuse, atteignant 60 à 80 centimètres de hauteur, touffue. Tiges simples, très glabres. Feuilles aternes, longuement pétiolées, à limbe tripennatiséqué, à divisions étroites, aigués, d'un vert blond, pâles et luisantes en dessous.
Fleurs carmin violacé, très odorantes, larges de 7 à 10 centimètres, une à cinq sur chaque tige, assez longuement pédonculées, généralement pourvues sous la fleur de trois à cinq bractées foliacées, linéaires, d'autant plus longues qu'elles sont plus inférieures; calice à trois sépales persistants, arrondis, concaves et prolongés au sommet en un long mucron herbacé; corolle à sept-huit pétales obovales, à peine onguiculés à la base, arrondis et fortement échancrés en cœur au sommet, à bords ondulés ou légèrement denticulés; anthères très nombreuses, à filets roses, glabres; ovaires deux, très velus, à stigmates rouges.
Habite la Chine centrale, où il a été recueilli par l'abbé Farges, et introduit par les soins de M. Maurice L. de Vilmorin, dés 1895, sous le nº 1036. Fleurit en fin mai.
Le Pæonia Veitchii n'offre rien de particulier quant à son traitement et à ses usages décoratifs. C'est une bonne et robuste plante vivace, de très longue durée, formant, avec l'âge de très fortes et belles touffes qui produiront le meilleur effet dans les plates-bandes, dans les collections de plantes vivaces et en particuler dans les rocailles, où il a sa place tout indiquée, en raison de sa nature spontanée. Ses fleurs, plus légères que celles de ses congénères et odorantes, trouveront un meilleur emploi dans les bouquets.¹
Quant à sa multiplication, elle ne diffère aucunement de celle de ses congénères herbacées. La plante est fertile, et ses graines, qui la reproduisent fidèlement, peuvent être employées pour la propager, mais il est plus simple et plus rapide d'avoir recours à la division des pieds, comme on le fait habituellement pour la plupart des autres Pivoines herbacées. —S. Mottet.

¹ M. Irwin Lynch signale, dans l'article rappelé plus haut, que ces fleurs, coupées et mises dans l'eau, se conservent longtemps.

A Peony Check-List (1907)  Page(s) 97.  
 
1020. GLORY, NORTHERN; P. arietina.
(1) 1893, The Gardening World, Vol. 9, p. 642.
(2) 1899, Peter Barr's Cat.
(3) 1900, Cyc. Am. Hort., p. 1191.

The Gardening World Illustrated (10 Jun 1893)  Page(s) 642.  
 
Single Pæonies.
These are now mostly out of bloom, but in spite of the dry weather, they made a fine display during last month, and might have been seen at their best as early as the first week in May, in the nursery of Messrs. Barr & Son, Long Ditton, Surrey. [...]
There are several distinct varieties of P. arietina, differing chiefly in the size and colour of the flowers. [...] The finest and boldest, not only of the varieties of P. arietina, but also of all the single kinds is P. arietina Northern Glory, which stands out boldly and prominently from all the rest of the collection, on account of the size of its flowers, and the freedom with which they are produced. The petals are a soft pink, and rose at the base. The plant is about 2 feet high, and in average seasons would exceed that considerably. The segments of the leaves are very broad, oblong and glaucous beneath, and for boldness, are in keeping with the rest of the plant.

The Gardening World Illustrated (10 Jun 1893)  Page(s) 642.  
 
Single Pæonies.
These are now mostly out of bloom, but in spite of the dry weather, they made a fine display during last month, and might have been seen at their best as early as the first week in May, in the nursery of Messrs. Barr & Son, Long Ditton, Surrey. [...]
There are several distinct varieties of P. arietina, differing chiefly in the size and colour of the flowers. P. arietina Purple Emperor has rich dark purple flowers; and in the case of P. arietina Diogenes, they are of a rich rose red.

The Gardening World Illustrated (10 Jun 1893)  Page(s) 642.  
 
Single Pæonies.
These are now mostly out of bloom, but in spite of the dry weather, they made a fine display during last month, and might have been seen at their best as early as the first week in May, in the nursery of Messrs. Barr & Son, Long Ditton, Surrey. [...]
There are several distinct varieties of P. arietina, differing chiefly in the size and colour of the flowers. P. arietina Purple Emperor has rich dark purple flowers; and in the case of P. arietina Diogenes, they are of a rich rose red.

The Gardening World Illustrated (10 Jun 1893)  Page(s) 642.  
 
Single Pæonies.
These are now mostly out of bloom, but in spite of the dry weather, they made a fine display during last month, and might have been seen at their best as early as the first week in May, in the nursery of Messrs. Barr & Son, Long Ditton, Surrey. [...]
There are several distinct varieties of P. arietina, differing chiefly in the size and colour of the flowers. Those of P. arietina Rosy Gem are of large size, deep rosy-purple, and consist of eight or nine petals.

A Peony Check-List (1907)  Page(s) 93.  
 
978. GEM, ROSY; P. arietina.
(1) 1893, The Gardening World, Vol. 9, p. 642.
(2) 1899, Peter Barr & Son's Cat.
(3) 1900, Cyc. Am. Hort., p. 1191.
(4) Cornell Plot Nos. 694, 1632.

The Gardening World Illustrated (10 Jun 1893)  Page(s) 642.  
 
Single Pæonies.
These are now mostly out of bloom, but in spite of the dry weather, they made a fine display during last month, and might have been seen at their best as early as the first week in May, in the nursery of Messrs. Barr & Son, Long Ditton, Surrey. [...]
The flowers of P. corallina are of a rich dark purple, and showy, but the ornamental character of the flowers is greatly augmented by the bright coral red colour of the stems, petioles and ribs of the leaves; the segments of the latter are broad, ovate or cordate and very distinct. 

The Gardening World Illustrated (10 Jun 1896)  Page(s) 642.  
 
Single Pæonies.
These are now mostly out of bloom, but in spite of the dry weather, they made a fine display during last month, and might have been seen at their best as early as the first week in May, in the nursery of Messrs. Barr & Son, Long Ditton, Surrey. [...]
The flowers of P. anemonæflora are rich crimson, with very numerous yellow anthers that are very prominent in the centre.