Common peony
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Common peony ( Paeonia officinalis subsp. Officinalis ) in its natural habitat |
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The Paeonia officinalis ( Paeonia officinalis ), also Common peony , farmers Peony , Garden Peony called, is a species of the genus of peonies ( Paeonia ) within the family of peony plants (Paeoniaceae). Varieties of the common peony are used as ornamental plants in parks and gardens.
description
Vegetative characteristics
The real peony grows as a perennial herbaceous plant that reaches heights of 60 to 100 centimeters. For example, the variety Paeonia officinalis cv. 'Rubra Plena' heights of growth of around 40 to 60 centimeters. The individual stems are unbranched.
There are no basal leaves at the time of flowering . The stem leaves are stalked. The leaf blade has a diameter of up to 30 centimeters and is in three parts up to the petiole, dark green and glabrous on the top, gray and hairy on the underside. The leaf sections of the 1st order are simply pinnate and the 2nd order pinnate.
Generative characteristics
The flowering period is between May and June. The very large flowers are terminally single.
The hermaphrodite flowers are radially symmetrical and five-fold. The natural form has five sepals that are unevenly shaped and long; they are green to red and fall off immediately after fertilization. The five to ten red petals (they have no nectar glands, in contrast to some Ranunculaceae ) are oval with a length of 4 to 8 centimeters and larger than the sepals. The flowers of some varieties are double and have a diameter of 7 to 13 centimeters. The colors of the varieties can be very different. The flowers of the natural form are not double. The peony has numerous yellow stamens that grow together at their base to form a fleshy ring that secretes nectar (in contrast to the Ranunculaceae). The two or three carpels are free.
The white tomentose hairy follicle fruit is up to 5 centimeters long.
Chromosome set
The basic chromosome number is x = 4; there is tetraploidy with the chromosome number 2n = 20.
ecology
The real peony is a rhizome - geophyte with tubers. The vegetative reproduction takes place through root brood. There is a smooth transition from the basal, stalked, divided foliage leaves over sessile stem leaves to typical sepals, where z. T. still remains of spiders.
From an ecological point of view, they are large, pre-female "pollen disc flowers". The petals are colored red by the anthocyanin paeolin .
With 3.6 million pollen grains , this is the highest known number of pollen grains per flower. The real peony is a pollen donor of particular value. Pollinators are pollen seekers of many species, such as honey bees . At the sepals of the flower buds crystallizing sugar water is released, which is ingested by various insects , especially ants , the latter probably offering the young buds a certain protection from animal damage.
Two or more follicles can develop per flower. The opened fruits show not only the normal black, shiny seeds but also red seeds with display function. The spread is carried out by larger ants , there is probably also processing spread by birds . The seeds are rich in oil and germinate in cold and light .
Site conditions
In Switzerland , the locations of the real peony are from the (colline to) montane to subalpine altitude range at altitudes between 640 and 1680 meters. In Italy locations are known at altitudes of 100 to 1800 meters.
The natural forms of the real peony thrive on lime-rich, mostly shallow, stony, summer-dry mountain slopes and light downy oak and hop beech bushes. The common peony grows on the southern slopes of the Alps in sparse deciduous forests ( Ostryo carpinifoliae-Fraxinetum orni and transitions to the Cephalanthero-Fagenion, Quercion pubescenti-petraeae) as well as in annual mowed or denser and shrubby Molinia arundinacodium) stadiums ( Mesinnobromionium stadionerez ( pentiobium ) , at higher altitudes it also grows in naturally forest-free, species-rich dry grassland ( habitat type : 6.3.5 (4.2.4).
Ecological pointer values according to Ellenberg : F2 R4 N3 H3 D3 L3 T3 K2. The real peony seems to tolerate late grazing .
Systematics and distribution
The first publication of Paeonia officinalis was in 1753 by Carl von Linné .
Paeonia officinalis is a southern European floral element . It occurs in the entire Mediterranean area from Portugal to Albania , in Asia Minor and Armenia . To the north, the area extends into the Western Alps (in France), to the southern edge of the Alps (in Switzerland and Italy), into the southern Eastern Alps (in Slovenia) and into the Danube basin of Hungary. It was naturalized in the northern Alps or has grown wild in cultivated forms (for example in the Swiss plateau and in Bavaria ).
Depending on the author, there are around five subspecies of Paeonia officinalis :
- Paeonia officinalis subsp. banatica (Rochel) Soó : It occurs in Hungary , Romania and in the former Yugoslavia .
- Paeonia officinalis subsp. huthii Soldano : It occurs in southern France and northwestern Italy .
- Paeonia officinalis subsp. italica N.G. Passal. & Bernardo : It occurs in central Italy and from Croatia to northern Albania .
- Paeonia officinalis subsp. microcarpa (Boiss. & Reuter) Nyman , it occurs from southwest France to Spain and Portugal .
- Paeonia officinalis L. subsp. officinalis , it occurs in Switzerland , Italy and the former Yugoslavia.
- The subspecies Paeonia officinalis subsp. villosa Cullen & Heywood is rated as Species Paeonia peregrina by DY Hong, 2010: Paeonies of the world taxonomy and phytogeography .
Toxicity
The peony is classified as less toxic in all parts.
Main active ingredients : According to older information, peregrinin . The functional unit is not known, however.
Symptoms of poisoning: Flowers and seeds can cause gastroenteritis with vomiting, colic pain and diarrhea .
History of Cultivation and Symbolism
The peony appeared again and again in the herbal books of the Middle Ages . Since it was brought across the Alps by the Benedictines , it was also given the name "Benedictine rose". She quickly found her way from the monastery gardens to the cottage gardens. In the late Middle Ages , the filled form of Paeonia officinalis was created . In Christian symbolism , it stood for wealth, healing, feminine beauty and was considered a “ rose without a thorn ”.
More common names
Other common names are peasant rose, office rose, button rose, pump rose, ballerose, gout rose, church rose, church flower, Benedictine rose, Antonirose (it usually blooms around June 13th, the day of St. Anthony of Padua ) and Pfaffarose.
use
Use as an ornamental plant
Genuine peony varieties are used as ornamental plants (mostly double-flowered varieties) in parks and gardens. Peonies can be used as long-lasting cut flowers .
Use as a medicinal plant
The following were used as pharmaceutical drugs : The dried petals of filled red-flowered garden forms, the dried roots and the fresh subterranean plant parts.
Active ingredients: In the flowers anthocyanins such as paeonin , flavonoids and tannins . In the roots monoterpene ester glycosides such as paeoniflorin and tannins.
The peony used to have a wide range of therapeutic indications as a so-called "gout rose" in folk medicine. Since no effectiveness could be proven for the numerous indications so far, the peony is now meaningless as a medicinal plant in conventional medicine. Irritation in the gastrointestinal tract has also been observed after ingesting flower petals, roots or seeds in higher doses, so that its use is not recommended today.
Poem by Eichendorff
The peony is also the subject of a poem by Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff :
- Imperial crown and peonies red,
- They must be enchanted
- Because father and mother are long dead
- What are they blooming here so alone?
- ...
literature
- Jane Fearnley-Wittingstall: Peonies. The imperial flower. from the English by Anke Kuhbier. Ellert & Richter, Hamburg 2000, ISBN 3-89234-938-X .
- Lutz Roth, Max Daunderer, Kurt Kormann: Poison Plants - Plant Poisons. Occurrence, effect, therapy, allergic and phototoxic reactions. With a special section about poisonous animals. 6th, revised edition, special edition. Nikol, Hamburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-86820-009-6 .
- DY Hong, 2010: Paeonies of the world taxonomy and phytogeography : 1-302. Kew Publishing, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Paeonia officinalis L., Garden Peony. In: FloraWeb.de.
- ↑ Common peony . In: BiolFlor, the database of biological-ecological characteristics of the flora of Germany.
- ↑ a b c d Ruprecht Düll , Herfried Kutzelnigg : Pocket dictionary of plants in Germany and neighboring countries. The most common Central European species in portrait . 7th, corrected and enlarged edition. Quelle & Meyer, Wiebelsheim 2011, ISBN 978-3-494-01424-1 .
- ↑ Jaakko Jalas, Juha Suominen (ed.): Atlas Florae Europaeae. Distribution of Vascular Plants in Europe. 9. Paeoniaceae to Capparaceae. Akateeminen Kirjakauppa, The Committee for Mapping the Flora of Europe & Societas Biologica Fennica Vanamo, Helsinki 1991, ISBN 951-9108-08-4 , pp. 15-17.
- ↑ a b c d e f g Rafaël Govaerts (Ed.): Paeonia officinalis. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved January 14, 2020.
- ↑ a b c Ingrid Schönfelder, Peter Schönfelder : The new manual of medicinal plants. Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2011, ISBN 978-3-440-09387-0 .
Web links
- Distribution map for Germany. In: Floraweb .
- Paeonia officinalis L. In: Info Flora , the national data and information center for Swiss flora .
- Thomas Meyer: Data sheet with identification key and photos at Flora-de: Flora von Deutschland (old name of the website: Flowers in Swabia )
- Data sheet with photos and distribution in Portugal at flora-on.pt .
- On the toxicity of the real peony ( Paeonia officinalis ) at giftpflanze.com .
- Peony from the perspective of naturopathy at PhytoDoc .
Map with all linked sites: 