Website/Catalog  (4 Aug 2011)  Includes photo(s).
 
Paeonia lactiflora Pall. var. whitleyii
Similar to Paeonia lactiflora Pall. var. fragrans, which see.  Whitleyii has large, cup-shaped, single or double ivory-white flowers with yellow stamens.  [RHSE, Hortus].  Don describes the flowers as being pale blush in colour, the outside petals being reddish, the inside ones a pale straw-colour, the whole becoming nearly white before they drop off, emitting a scent somewhat like that of elder flowers.

Horticultural & Botanical History
‘A neat habited plant, growing from eighteen inches to two feet in height, with conspicuous double white blossoms, from six to eight inches across, and prettily contrasted with masses of yellow stamens in the disc.’  [Gard. Chron. 1854].  ‘A supposed variety of P. albiflora, and now almost general in our collections.  It was introduced from China in 1808 by Mr. Whitley, nurseryman, Fulham.’  [BR f.630/1822].  Paxton's Dictionary gives the earlier date of introduction of 1784.  Figured in Andrews' Botanical Repository under the name P. albiflora flore pleno.  [ABR pl.612/1810].  Figured by Bonpland as Paeonia albiflora flore pleno.  [Bonpland pl.47/1812-17].
 
History at Camden Park
Listed only in the 1857 catalogue [B.400/1857].  Originally received per ‘Sovereign’ February 1831.  [MP A2948].  The late catalogue entry would suggest that it had been lost and reintroduced, but its specific exclusion from desiderata to Loddiges’ Nursery in 1846 makes this unlikely.  

Website/Catalog  (1925)  Page(s) 25.  
 
Queen Victoria.—One of the most abundantly flowering. Bomb type; pure white, occasionally flecked with red. Very strong grower.

Magazine  (1924)  
 
Queen Victoria—(Whitleyi)—Medium early, large, full compact bloom, center petals some years are tipped carmine, opens flesh white, cream center, this is the variety to plant if you are going into the cut flower business... .25 each, 2.00 Per 10, 15.00 Per 100, 145.00 Per 1000

Magazine  (1924)  
 
Queen Victoria—(Whitleyi)—Medium early, large, full compact bloom, center petals some years are tipped carmine, opens flesh white, cream center, this is the variety to plant if you are going into the cut flower business... .25 each, 2.00 Per 10, 15.00 Per 100, 145.00 Per 1000
 

Book  (Jan 1917)  Page(s) 45.  
 
In the early part of the Nineteenth Century some varieties of albiflora were imported from China that are still offered by growers. Among these are Fragrans (Sir Joseph Banks, 1805), Whitleyi (Whitley, 1808) — which the importer had been led to believe was a yellow tree peony — and Humei (Anderson, 1810).

Book  (Jan 1917)  Page(s) 59.  
 
In 1858, H.A. Terry of Crescent, Iowa, one of the pioneers among peony experts of this country, obtained from William Robert Prince, who had inherited the Linnaean Botanic Garden, at Flushing, thirty varities of P. albiflora, inclusing Humei, Pottsii, Reevesii, Comte de Paris, fragrans, festiva maxima, lutetiana, edulis superba, plenissima rosea and Queen Victoria.

Book  (1917)  Page(s) 225.  
 
Albiflora ( white flowered) . Central China and Siberia. Older Varieties:....Whitleyi, Introduced in 1808.

Website/Catalog  (1912)  Page(s) 16.  
 
Choice List of Peonies
Queen Victoria — Large, full, compact bloom; opens flesh-white, changing to pure white; center petals tipped with carmine spots; a grand white Peony for any purpose; more of this is being planted for cut flowers than any other variety.  35 cents each.

Magazine  (Nov 1911)  Page(s) 106.  
 
WHITLEYI.
Species — P. albiflora.
Originated by Whitley, 1808.
Donated by Andorra Nursery and John Charlton.
Description of bloom — Type of bloom bomb. Form of bloom globular, loose. Differentiated. Not entirely transformed. Color (total effect) milk white; guards slightl}' flecked with crimson ; collar same color as guards ; center clear. Hairy carpels, pink stigmas ; bloom opens up exposing carpels with age. Fragrance pleasant X. Blooming time mid-season. Medium size.
Description of plant — Habit of plant medium erect, medium tall, medium compact. Growth strong and healthy. Stem medium long, strong, green. Blooming habit free. Buds borne in clusters, healthy. Foliage well furnished, dark green, fine in size ; veins green.
Commercial value — For cut bloom medium; landscape value medium to poor. Variety as a whole medium.
Synonyms—"Queen Victoria," "Papilionacea," "Snow White," "Rosa Barry", "Stewart's America."
 

Magazine  (Nov 1911)  Page(s) 64.  
 
GALENE. Note: Same as "Stewart's America."