Newsletter  (Aug 2021)  Page(s) 12.  Includes photo(s).
 
Paeonia obovata var. willmottiae This woodland species of peony grew from seed collected by E. H. Wilson in the Hubei (formerly Hupeh) province of China in 1900. Its white single flowers, appearing in late spring, are offset by beautiful maroon red filaments and yellow stamens. The plant will grow to 2’ (.6 m) in height and prefers rich soil. If flowers are not removed seed pods will form, splitting open on maturity to reveal startling blue black seeds. 

Book  (2011)  Page(s) 48.  Includes photo(s).
 
Paeonia obovata Maxim. subsp. willmottiae (Stapf) D. Y. Hong & K. Y. Pan in Hong et al., Pl. Syst. Evol. 227: 134 (2001). (Figs 16.17-16.22).
Paeonoa willmottiae Stapf; P. obovata var. willmottiae (Stapf) Stern.
Flowering in May; fruiting in August & September. Chromosome number: 2n = 20. Growing in deciduous forests at altitudes from 800 m to 2,800 m. Confined to the mountain area around the Qinling Range: NE Chongqing, W Henan, W Hubei, S Ningxia, Shaanxi, Shanxi and N Sichuan.

Book  (2011)  Page(s) 44.  
 
Leaves mostly glabrous or sparsely (occasionally hispid on lower surface; diploid (tetrapoids rarely occur in the Far East of Russia and on Mt Changbai of NE China) ....subsp. obovata
Leaves usually densely, very occasionally sparsely, hispid on lower surface; tetraploid (the only diploid found in a mixed population in Lushi County, W Henan)....subsp. willmottiae

Book  (2011)  Page(s) 449.  
 
P. obovata....Var. willmottiae (Stapf) F.C. Stern (P. willmottiae Stapf). Leaves densely hairy beneath. Flowers to 10 cm across; petals white. Filaments purple. C. China.

Book  (2010)  Page(s) 148-149.  
 
Paeonia obovata Maxim. subsp. willmottiae (Stapf) D. Y. Hong & K. Y. Pan.... ....Flowering in May; fruiting in August and September....In contrast to the teypical subspecies, the leaves are mostly densely or very denselyhirsute or pubescent on the lower surface.

Book  (2005)  Page(s) 54-55.  
 
Paeonia obovata...Subspecies willmottiae was originally described as an independent species by Otto Stapf (1916), who had found it growing in Ellen Willmott's garden at Warley Place in England. It was originally collected by the famous plant hunter E. H. Wilson and is restricted to a small area of Western China. Frederick Stern (1946) reduced it to the status of a botanical variety, but more recently Hong et al. (2001) have discovered that whereas the type is usually diploid, subsp. willmottiae is tetraploid and this justified raising it to the status of a subspecies. I starts to grow earlier in the year than the type and has pure white, cup-shaped flowers, with yellow anthers and red filaments. (2N=20).

Book  (2004)  Page(s) 110.  
 
P. obovata subsp. obovata var. willmottiae (Stapf) Stern in Journal of the Royal Horticultural society 68:128 (1943).
P. willmottiae Stapf in Curtis's Botanical Magazine, t. 8667 (1916).
Epithet: willmottiae, after noted gardener Ellen Ann Willmott (1860-1934).
Description: Differs from variety obovata in being more robust, with villous leaf underside and earlier, white flowers with more attenuated carpels. Flowering April to June. 2n = 10, 20.
Distribution: China, in Hubei and Shaanxi provinces, growing in mixed forest, among rocks, and on shrubby slopes at altitudes up to 2600 m (8530 ft.).
Comment: We collected this taxon twice: in Shaanxi (Tabei Shan JJH8708233) and Hubei (JJH8708315). Both forms are vigorous and bloom about two weeks earlier than var. obovata. THis variety needs half shade and good drainage.

Book  (2002)  Page(s) 99.  
 
....Var. willmottiae (Stapf) Stern, from W Hubei and E Sichuan, has hairy undersides to the leaf, larger flowers, to 10 cm across and is earlier flowering, in May in gardens in S England...

Article (magazine)  (2001)  Page(s) 123-136.  
 
....it is justified to recognize only one species in the complex, P. obovata, with two subspecies: the typical subspecies for the populations in the northern, eastern and southern parts of the distribution range, which are diploid (very occasionally tetraploid in the Far East of Russia and in the Changbai Mountains, Jilin, China) and mostly glabrous to moderately pubescent or hirsute, and the subspecies willmottiae for the populations in the western part of the distribution range, which are tetraploid (diploid and tetraploid only in one mixed population in Lushi County, W. Henan Province), and mostly densely (less frequently moderately) hirsute or pubescent.

Book  (2001)  
 
Paeonia obovata...
1 Leaves abaxially usually glabrous or sparsely (rarely densely) pubescent or hirsute subsp. obovata
+ Leaves abaxially usually densely (rarely sparsely) pubescent or hirsute subsp. willmottiae