Paeonia brownii
Encyclopedia
Paeonia brownii is a herbaceous
perennial
flowering plant
in the family Paeoniaceae, native to the western United States
, growing in dry sagebrush
and Ponderosa Pine
country. Excepting Paeonia californica
, which is sometimes considered a subspecies, this is the only Paeonia native to North America
.
Native to the western United States, P. californica grows in southern California, and subspecies brownii is native to Wyoming and Utah.
It is 24-50 cm tall with flower
s of a dark maroon opening to 2-3 cm. Flowering occurs in April to June followed by a long dormancy.
The species grows at high elevations and experiences long, cold winters with little or no snow and a short growing season, while subsp. californica is less cold hardy, and is a near-desert succulent, going a year or more without rain.
Neither subspecies is typically grown in gardens.
It is named after Scottish botanist Robert Brown
.
Herbaceous
A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. They have no persistent woody stem above ground...
perennial
Perennial plant
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...
flowering plant
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
in the family Paeoniaceae, native to the western United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, growing in dry sagebrush
Sagebrush
Sagebrush is a common name of a number of shrubby plant species in the genus Artemisia native to western North America;Or, the sagebrush steppe ecoregion, having one or more kinds of sagebrush, bunchgrasses and others;...
and Ponderosa Pine
Ponderosa Pine
Pinus ponderosa, commonly known as the Ponderosa Pine, Bull Pine, Blackjack Pine, or Western Yellow Pine, is a widespread and variable pine native to western North America. It was first described by David Douglas in 1826, from eastern Washington near present-day Spokane...
country. Excepting Paeonia californica
Paeonia californica
Paeonia californica is one of two species of Peony native to North America. It is endemic to southwest California, United States, where it grows on dry hillsides in the coastal sage scrub and chaparral communities of the coastal mountains of Southern and Central California, often as an understory...
, which is sometimes considered a subspecies, this is the only Paeonia native to North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
.
Native to the western United States, P. californica grows in southern California, and subspecies brownii is native to Wyoming and Utah.
It is 24-50 cm tall with flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s of a dark maroon opening to 2-3 cm. Flowering occurs in April to June followed by a long dormancy.
The species grows at high elevations and experiences long, cold winters with little or no snow and a short growing season, while subsp. californica is less cold hardy, and is a near-desert succulent, going a year or more without rain.
Neither subspecies is typically grown in gardens.
It is named after Scottish botanist Robert Brown
Robert Brown (botanist)
Robert Brown was a Scottish botanist and palaeobotanist who made important contributions to botany largely through his pioneering use of the microscope...
.