44. P.anomala L. Mantissa altera, 247 (1771) ; Murray, L. Syst. Veg. Ed. 14, P.502 (1784), et in Comm. Soc. Sc. Gffttingen, 7, 90, t. 5 (1786) ; Willdenow, L. SP.PI. 2, 1222 (1800) ; Andrews, Bot. ReP.8, t. 514 (1807-08) ; Schukhr, But. Handb. Ed. 2, 2, 81, t. 144 (1808) ; Roques, PI. Usuell. Indig. and Exot. 2, 55, t. 13 (1808) ; Aiton, Hort. Kew. Ed. 2, 3, 316 (1811) ; Bot. Mag. t. 1754 (1815) ; DC. Syst. 1, 393 (1817) ; Anderson in Trans. Linn. Soc. London, 12, a6i (1818) ; Joh. Kemer, Hort. Sempervir. t. 524 (1818) ; Smith in Rees, Cycl. no. 9 (1819) ; DC. Prodr. 1, 66 (1824) ; Ledebour, Fl. Altaica, 2, 277 (1830), quoad " ac cyamiis glabris," et Fl. Ross. 1, 74 (1842) ; Turczaninow, Ft. Baic.-Dakur. 1, 88 (1845-49), quoad <x ; Ruprecht in Beitr. Pflanzenk. Russ. Reiches, 7, 49 (1850) ; Fellman, PI. Vase. LapP.Or. (in Not. S&llsk. Fauna and Fl. Femiica FSrh. 8), 5 (1864-69) ; Baker in Gard. Chron., N. Ser. 21, 828 (1884), pro parte ; Scheutz in Svenska Vet. Acad. Handl. 22, no. 10, P.80 (1888) ; Sommier in NuovoGiorn. Bot. Ital. 25, 51 (1893), et N. Ser. 8,19 (1896) ; Korshinsky, Tent. Fl. Ross. Or. (in Mem. Acad. Sc. St. Pttersb., Ser. 8, 7), 21 (1898) ; Karsten and Schenck, Veg.-Bild. 5, t. 20 (1907); Fedtschenko & Fleroff, Fl. Eur. Russ. 413, fig. 303 (1910) ; Bull. Missouri Bot. Gard. 6, t. 3 (1918) ; Krylov, Fl. Sibir. Occ. 5, m6 (1931) ; Komarov, Fl. U.R.S.S. 7, 33 (1937) ; F. C. Stem in Journ. Roy. Hort. Soc. 68, 130 (1943).Syn. P.anomala var. nudicarpa Huth in Engl. Bot. Jahrb. 14, 269 (1891).P.anomala var.typica Regel, Reisen Siiden Ost-Sibir. Radde. Bot. 1 (in Bull.Soc.ffat.Mosc. 34),125(1861) ; Printz, Veg.Sibir.-Mongol.Front. 250 (1921). P.laciniata Pallas, Fl. Ross. Descr. and Ic. I, ii, 93, t. 85 (1788) ; Siev. in Pallas, JV. Nord. Beitr. 7, 346 (1795). P.quinquecapsularis Pallas, Reise, 3, 316 (1776), nomen tantum. P.sibirica Pallas, Fl. Ross. Descr. and Ic. 1, ii, t. 85 (1788), in ic., P.laciniata in textu. P.fructibus quinque glabris patentibus Gmelin, Fl. Sibir. 4, 184, t. 72 (1769) ; Pallas, Reise, 2, 244 (1773).

Description. Stem 50 cm. high, glabrous. Leases bitemate, but the leaflets are pinnatisect with numerous narrow segments, some of which are deeply 2- or 3-lobed ; segments narrow-oblong, acuminate-attenuate at the apex, up to 9 cm. long and 1-5 cm. wide, but usually shorter and narrower, 5-7 cm. by 5-10 mm., dark green above with minute bristles along the nerves, glabrous and glaucous below. Flowers crimson, 7-9 cm. across. Petals obovate, apex truncate, margins undulate. Stamens 1.5 cm. long, filaments yellow, anthers yellow. Carpels 3-5, glabrous. Follicles 1.7 cm. long and 1.5 cm. in diameter.

Distribution. Eastern Russia to Central Asia. european russia : Ural Mountains, Szetenskoje, Tegeloukhojf (K). central asia : Irkutsk region, Baikal, Turczaninow (K), near Krasnoyarsk, Turczaninow (K) ; Atschinsk, Augwez (K) ; Amil River, Price (K). Dzungarian Alatau, Lepsa, Sarchan and Aksu Rivers, Karelin & Kirilow (K).

P.anomala was described by Linnaeus in 1771. Gmelin is said to have discovered it. He described it with a figure in his Flora Sibirica (1747-69) as P.fructibus quinque glabris patentibus. This paeony belongs to the subsection dissectifolia and is characterized by the leaves, which are much dissected into a number of segments that are again divided ; by the presence on all the main veins on the otherwise glabrous upper side of the leaves of uninterrupted lines of delicate small hairs which are only just visible through a lens, and by its glabrous carpels. The breadth of the segments is very variable in different specimens. The geographical distribution is wide, running from the Ural Mountains to Lake Baikal in Central Asia. There is another form, P.. anomala var. intermedia, which only differs from the type by possessing tomentose carpels. It is found in the same districts as the typical form and is described on the next page.

P.anomala is a diploid closely allied to P.Veitchii, differing from it mainly by having but one flower to a stem instead of two or more as in P.Veitchii. P.anomala is not often seen in cultivation though the var. intermedia is fairly common in gardens. [end page 112]