Paeonia japonica. P. obovata

Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com
Mon, 21 May 2007 05:03:28 PDT
I was asked recently how to distinguish Paeonia japonica and P. obovata. 

 

P. japonica has been described as being diploid, P. obovata as being
tetraploid (in The Peonies edited by John Wister); Allan Rogers in Peonies
lists both as diploid. 

 

I grow P. japonica, but I do not grow P. obovata. The plants of P. obovata I
have seen seem stouter than P. japonica as I know it. 

 

Also, P. obovata gets its name from the relatively wide, blunt terminal
leaflet (Wister again); P. japonica as I know it has relatively long,
narrow, pointed leaflets. 

 

Can anyone else jump in and cite some differences which a layperson might
use to distinguish these species? 

 

Thanks, 

 

Jim McKenney

jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com

Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7 where the big pink Eremurus is
in full bloom. 

My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/

 

Webmaster Potomac Valley Chapter, NARGS 

Editor PVC Bulletin http://www.pvcnargs.org/ 

 

Webmaster Potomac Lily Society http://www.potomaclilysociety.org/

 

 

 

 

 

 


More information about the pbs mailing list