No flowers to enjoy in May? Learn more about peonies

As the saying goes, "See peonies in the three days after Grain Rain and see peonies in the three days after Beginning of Summer." If you take a trip to the botanical garden, you will find that peonies have already bloomed.

Bouquet of peonies (Photo provided by Zhang Wenqin)

Peony is a traditional famous Chinese flower that everyone seems to be very familiar with, but do you really understand it?

Part 1

Peony? Peony? Can't tell the difference?

When we talk about peony, we always think of the peony. Peony is revered as the "king of flowers", and peony is its foil, condescending to be the "flower minister". But in fact, the history of "peony" appeared much earlier than that of peony.

The Book of Songs, Zheng Feng, Qin Wei, records that "the man and the woman teased each other and gave each other spoons of medicine" ("shaoyao" is the same as "peony"). It is believed that peony was used as an ornamental flower and a token of love by young men and women in the pre-Qin period, so peony is also called "China's love flower".

Compared with peony, the name peony appeared relatively late. For a long time, peony was called "wood peony".

The fact that peony separated from peony and gradually became known and sought after by the public has a lot to do with the empress Wu Zetian.

Wang Yu's "Peony Poems and Preface" records: "However, since the time of the Empress, peonies have flourished, while peonies have faded." Wu Zetian's hometown, Wenshui, Bingzhou (now Wenshui County, Shanxi Province), produces peonies, "whose flowers are unique and eye-catching." After Wu Zetian entered the palace, she was still obsessed with peonies, so she ordered people to transplant them to the palace garden in Chang'an. Since then, the fame of peonies has gradually surpassed that of peonies.

In plant taxonomy, peony and tree peony belong to the same genus Paeoniaceae, Paeoniaceae family, and are sister groups, but there are essential differences between the two.

Peony is a herbaceous plant. Its above-ground part completely dies in winter, and its buds hibernate underground. In spring, the buds break through the soil and grow into branches. Adult peonies have obviously lignified stems, shed their leaves in winter, and their buds remain dormant on the branches. In spring, new branches sprout from the old branches.

Peony and herbaceous peony sprouting in spring (peony on top, herbaceous peony on bottom)

(Photo provided by Yang Yong)

At the same time, some people say that the difference between peonies and herbaceous peonies can be determined by leaf shape, leaf color and texture, whether the leaves have cracks, and the early or late flowering period. However, as we gain a deeper understanding of wild species and cultivated varieties of herbaceous peonies, we find that these methods of judgment are not completely accurate.

Part 2

Origin of Peony Cultivation in China

China's Pan-Himalayan region is the origin center of Paeonia plants. There are about 8 species of wild peonies distributed in China, among which Paeonia lactiflora has the widest adaptability and is widely distributed in Northeast, North and Northwest China.

Because of its strong adaptability, our ancestors began to domesticate peony very early on. By the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the cultivation of peony as an ornamental flower had begun to take shape.

Wild individuals of Paeonia lactiflora

(Photo provided by Wang Fu)

The wild species of peony all have single petals, and the flower colors are mostly white and pink. After thousands of years of cultivation and breeding, double-petaled flowers that meet the public's aesthetic taste have been bred. And because Chinese people admire purple and believe that purple is a color of auspiciousness, a large number of purple-red varieties have been bred.

Rich purple Chinese peony varieties

(Photo provided by Wang Fu)

Although there are many wild peonies in China, due to the limitations of geographical distribution, adaptability and hybridization affinity, almost all domesticated peony varieties in China at present are independently domesticated and selected from the peony (P. lactiflora) species. Therefore, peony varieties from the peony seed source are also called Chinese peony variety groups internationally.

Part 3

Chinese peonies bloom all over the world

Chinese peony cultivars were introduced to Japan during the Enki period (901-923), and the Japanese even inherited the name "flower minister" for peony.

In the Edo period, Japan began to actively improve Chinese peony varieties and formed the "Higo-series" of peony. Around 1700, Japanese peony cultivation entered a period of prosperity, with as many as a hundred varieties cultivated. By the early 20th century, there were already thousands of peony varieties recorded in Japan. In recent years, varieties such as "Kaguya-hime" and "Ice Point" have also been introduced to China for cut flower cultivation.

Japanese peony varieties 'Kaguya-hime' and 'Bingdian'

(Photo provided by Yang Yong)

Grassland peony (P. obovata) is also distributed in Japan, but the main horticultural varieties are still improved on the basis of Chinese peony varieties. Only some leaf art (leaves with colored stripes or patches) and red flower varieties have been cultivated for grass peony, and the market promotion is also very limited.

The Mediterranean region of Europe is also one of the distribution centers of the genus Paeonia. Around the 12th century, medicinal peony (P. officinalis) began to be planted as a medicinal plant in monasteries and other places, and horticultural varieties were bred in the process.

Horticultural varieties of medicinal peony (Paeonia officinalis)

(Photo provided by Yang Yong)

In the early 19th century, Chinese peony cultivars began to be introduced to Europe. The outstanding charm of Chinese peony varieties soon eclipsed the original European peony varieties, becoming the new favorite in Europe, and new varieties were constantly cultivated.

In the early 19th century, Chinese peony varieties were introduced to the United States via Britain. American peony breeders also improved the varieties based on this and continued to develop new varieties.

Some peony varieties from the Chinese peony group bred in Europe and the United States

(Photo provided by Yang Yong)

At present, the number of peony varieties in the Chinese peony variety group internationally registered by the American Peony and Peony Association is the largest among all peony cultivated varieties, with a total of more than 4,100 varieties. These varieties are mainly from the United States and some European countries, and there are fewer registered peony varieties from China and Japan.

Part 4

Contribution of Chinese peony to modern peony breeding

After Chinese peony varieties were introduced to Europe and the United States, their large flowers and excellent adaptability immediately attracted the interest of European peony breeders, who actively used Chinese peonies and local native peonies for hybridization.

In the early 20th century, French breeder Lemoine used Caucasian peony (P. wittmanniana) and Chinese peony varieties to cross and bred a number of hybrid peony varieties such as 'Le Printemps'.

At the same time, American breeder AP Saunders, known as the "father of modern hybrid peony breeding", attached great importance to the role of Chinese peony varieties in breeding. On the basis of extensive collection of wild peony germplasm, he systematically used these wild species with Chinese peony varieties to carry out large-scale hybridization work, obtaining more than 14,500 hybrid peony offspring, and screened 181 offspring from them, named them, promoted them and put them on the market. To date, varieties such as 'Blushing Princess' and 'May Lilac' are still very popular in the market.

Some new hybrid peonies bred with Chinese varieties

(Photo provided by Yang Yong)

Based on the hybrid peony cultivated by Saunders, subsequent breeders have continuously improved the hybrid peony varieties. Now hybrid peonies have extended the entire flowering period of cultivated peony varieties by two to three weeks, and new colors such as coral, champagne, and bright red have also appeared.

Part.5

Challenges and opportunities facing Chinese peony

With the rapid development of my country's economy, people's requirements for quality of life are gradually increasing. Since 2017, peony as a fresh cut flower has become the new favorite in the cut flower market in May.

Heze, Luoyang and other traditional peony and peony growing areas began to import large quantities of cut peony seedlings from the Netherlands, which also promoted the cultivation of cut peonies in Zhejiang, Sichuan, Beijing and other places.

Heze Cut Peony Production Base

(Photo provided by Yang Yong)

For a long time, China's self-bred peony varieties have been mainly used for garden viewing. In addition, the traditional Chinese culture's affirmation of restraint and subtlety, as well as the influence of peony's representation of feminine beauty, have resulted in many domestic peony varieties having thin and soft stalks, and the effect of making bouquets or vases is far inferior to that of imported varieties with thick and upright stalks.

Therefore, the planting scale of domestic peony varieties has continued to shrink in recent years, and some varieties are even facing the situation of being eliminated.

The rapid development of cut peony has brought a huge impact on China's traditional varieties, but the huge market demand for cut peony has also allowed us to see new opportunities.

At present, the production of cut peonies in China relies almost entirely on imported varieties. However, after a period of time, the solidification of varieties will lead to aesthetic fatigue among consumers, and new varieties need to be continuously added to stimulate consumption.

For a long time, peony breeding has not received much attention, resulting in a shortage of new peony varieties in China at this stage, especially varieties suitable for cut flowers.

Under this situation, Yu Xiaonan's team and Liu Yan's team from Beijing Forestry University, Tao Jun's team from Yangzhou University, Guo Xianfeng's team from Shandong Agricultural University, Zhang Xiuxin's team from the Institute of Vegetable and Floriculture of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and Wang Liangsheng's team from the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have begun to collect peony resources at home and abroad and carry out hybrid breeding work. Some of the new varieties have already completed new variety approval or international registration.

'Heart of the North Forest' and 'White Lover'

(Developed by Yu Xiaonan's team from Beijing Forestry University, photo provided by Zhu Wei)

'Sing to the Sky'

(Cultivated by Liu Yan's team from Beijing Forestry University, photo provided by Gao Jianzhou)

'Golden Scholar' and 'Red Clouds and Golden Flames'

(Cultivated by Tao Jun's team at Yangzhou University, photo provided by Zhao Daqiu)

'Coral Lamp' and 'Mid-Autumn Moon' (Photo courtesy of Yang Yong)

Thanks to the efforts of these breeding teams and individuals, I believe that China's self-developed peony varieties will return to the public eye in the near future.

Reviewer: Peng Liping Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences

References:

America Peony Society (APS). Peony registry. https://americanpeonysociety.org/cultivars/peony-registry/ [2022-5-10]

AP Saunders' peonies. https://www.peonysociety.eu/saunders-peonies/?sfw=pass1652147805 [2022-5-10]

Bigger, MD, et al., 1962. The Peonies. The American Horticultural Society, Washington.

Hong, DY, 2010. Peonies of the world: Taxonomy and phytogeography. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom.

Page, M., 2005. The gardener's peony: Herbaceous and tree peonies. Timber Press, Portland.

Yang, Y., Sun, M., Li, SS, et al., 2020. Germplasm resources and genetic breeding of Paeonia: a systematic review. Hortic Res 7, 107. doi: 10.1038/s41438-020-0332-2. eCollection 2020.

Li Jiajue, Zhang Xifang, Zhao Xiaoqing. 2011. Chinese Peony. Encyclopedia of China Publishing House, Beijing.

Yu Xiaonan,. 2019. Ornamental Peony. China Forestry Publishing House, Beijing.

Produced by: Science Popularization China

Author: Yang Yong, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Producer: China Science Expo

The article only represents the author's views and does not represent the position of China Science Expo

This article was first published in China Science Expo (kepubolan)

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