chapter II

SUMMARY OF PAEONY SPECIES AND THEIR GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION

"The genus paeonia is only found in the Northern Hemisphere. The species extend from western Europe and from Morocco and Algiers through Europe to Asia Minor and the Caucasus; they also extend from Lapland and north India through central Asia to western China and Japan ; outlying species occur in western North America.

The two paeonies of the section onaepia form one group ; the other two sections of the genus have been broken up into several groups. These groups are composed of species allied together by their morphological characters. It so happens that the species grouped together in this way are found in one geographical area, in some cases large areas and in others small.

A summary of each of these groups is given in the following pages and the different species in each group considered. At the end of the chapter the geographical distribution of the species and their cytological relationship, as far as is known, is discussed.

Maps a-z