(2003)  Page(s) 140.  Includes photo(s).
 
....in...(Lagodekhi, type locality of both P. mlokosewitschii (yellow flowers) and
P. lagodechiana (pink flowers)), we found all the colours mentioned above: white, pale yellow, yellow, pink, red and purple-red, or yellow but with red or pink periphery or a red spot at the base (Figs 5–9), the same situation as in P. delavayi (Hong et al., 1998). This is another typical example of polymorphism in petal colour. Clearly, it cannot be used as a diagnostic character for distinguishing species...

(2003)  Page(s) 145.  
 
KEY TO SUBSPECIES OF P. DAURICA
1 Leaflets villose and (or) pilose on lower surface or glabrous; oblong or elliptic-oblong; apex rounded, acute to acuminate.
2 Petals yellow or yellowish white, but sometimes red at periphery or with a red spot at base: leaflets always villose or pilose.
3 Carpels and follicles tomentose.
4 Leaflets mostly densely villose or pilose and thus greyish on lower side...... ssp. tomentosa (Lomakin) D. Y. Hong

(2003)  Page(s) 137.  
 
Azerbaijan: Lerik, Orand, Zubu, (Mt. Talysh.), 1170 m Sandstones, pasture with bushes and young trees.... The type locality of P. tomentosa (= P. daurica ssp. tomentosa)

(2003)  Page(s) 148.  
 
Paeonia daurica ssp. tomentosa (Lomakin) D. Y. Hong, stat. nov. = Paeonia wittmanniana Stev. var. tomentosa Lomakin in Trud Tiflis Bot. Sada, 2: 283.1897;.....P. wittmanniana ssp. tomentosa (Lomakin) Busch, Fl. Caucas. Crit. 3(3): 14. 1901. P. tomentosa (Lomakin) Busch in Fomin and Voron.,Opred. Rast. Kavkaza; Kryma, 7. 1919;.....P. corallina var. triternata Boissier, Fl. Orient. 1: 97.1867.....The subspecies is characterized by leaflets nearly always densely covered with villose and/or pilose hairs on the lower surface, petals pale yellow but reddish at the base of a small proportion of individuals, and carpels mostly densely, rarely sparsely, tomentose. It mostly resembles ssp. wittmanniana, but differs from it in having leaflets mostly densely villose or pilose on the lower surface and carpels more or less tomentose. In contrast, ssp. wittmanniana possesses leaflets mostly sparsely villose or pilose and
carpels often glabrous. The two subspecies are geographically isolated by a long distance.
Paeonia daurica ssp. tomentosa is found in the Talysch Mountains of Azerbaijan in the Caucasus and in northern Iran. It grows in deciduous forests with soil derived from sandstone at altitudes from 1100 to 1800 m. We also found this subspecies growing on a pasture with scattered trees or shrubs. Punina (1987,1989) reported that the subspecies had the chromosome number 2n = 20, and thus it is a tetraploid.

(2003)  Page(s) 145.  
 
KEY TO SUBSPECIES OF P. DAURICA
1 Leaflets villose and (or) pilose on lower surface or glabrous; oblong or elliptic-oblong; apex rounded, acute to acuminate.
2 Petals yellow or yellowish white, but sometimes red at periphery or with a red spot at base: leaflets always villose or pilose.
3 Carpels and follicles tomentose.
4 Leaflets usually sparsely villose ........ssp. wittmanniana (Hartwiss ex Lindley) D. Y. Hong
3 Carpels and follicles glabrous or nearly glabrous
5 Leaflets usually sparsely villose .......................ssp. wittmanniana (Hartwiss ex Lindley) D. Y. Hong

(2003)  Page(s) 146.  
 
Paeonia daurica ssp. wittmanniana (Hartwiss ex Lindley) D. Y. Hong, stat. nov. = Paeonia wittmanniana Hartwiss ex. Lindley in Bot. Reg. 32: t 9. 1846....Paeonia abchasica Miscz. ex Grossgeim, Fl. Caucas. 2: 92. 1930;.....This subspecies is found in north-western Georgia (Abchasia, Imereti, Megrelia, Ratsha-Letskhumi and Svaneti) and the adjacent region of Russia (upper reaches of the Mzymta River). It grows in deciduous forests and alpine or subalpine meadows at altitudes of 1000–2300 m. All the available records of herbarium specimens show that it is confined to the limestone areas. Although we were unable to visit localities of this subspecies due to security considerations, a large number of herbarium specimens and live individuals in the Tbilisi and Bakuriani Botanical Gardens in Georgia show that leaflets in this subspecies vary from glabrous to sparsely villose and/or pilose..., carpels from one to three in number and from glabrous and sparsely villose to tomentose, and petals from yellow to yellow with a pink spot at the base. The entity is not sufficiently distinct to allow recognition specific status. This subspecies was reported to be a tetraploid with the chromosome number 2n = 20

(2003)  Page(s) 140.  Includes photo(s).
 
Flowers of P. wittmanniana were previously described as yellow by all the previous authors; however, one individual (Tbilisi Botanical Garden, from Abchasia, type locality) showed a red spot at the base (Fig. 4).

(2003)  Page(s) 138.  
 
According to our observations in the fiels and in the herbaria....Paeonia in the Caucasus may be classified clearly into three major groups as follows:
1 Roots fusiformly thickened; leaflets/segments of lower leaves more than 70 in number, narrow-lanceolate to filiform, less than 1.5 cm wide
2 Leaflets/segments of lower leaves with segments less than 100 in number, narrow-lanceolate ......1 Intermedia group.
2 Leaflets/segments of lower leaves more than 130 in number, linear to filiform..... 2 Tenuifolia group.
2 Roots carrot-shaped; leaflets of lower leaves mostly 9, rarely 10-19; leaflets ovate, oblong or obovate, over 3 cm wide......3 Daurica group.

(2003)  Page(s) 138.  
 
Intermedia This group was discovered by Ketzchoweli (1959) near the village of Igoeti, Kartli district, Georgia and described as a new species, P. majko. It had a single small population....[The authors find only six plants]....The plant had fusiform-thickened roots, ternate leaves with 78-91 leaflets/segments that were 4-10 mm wide and glabrous on both sides, red flowers with two bracts, three sepals, five petals, and two tomentose carpels. These morphological characters show no significant differences from those of P. intermedia, which is distributed in Central Asia from the Altai Mountains to Uzbekistan. Therefore, [this] Group..is probably most appropriately named P. intermedia.

(2003)  Page(s) 143.  
 
Paeonia intermedia C. A. Meyer in Ledebour, Fl. Alt. 2: 277, 1830. TYPE: The Altai Mountains, s. coll., s. n. (Holotype, K!).

Paeonia majko N. Ketzchoveli in Notul. Syst. ac Geograph. Inst. Bot. Tiphlis. Fasc. 21: 17. 1959; Kemularia-Nathadze in Trud Tbilisi Bot. Inst. 21: 27, 1961.syn. nov. TYPE: Georgia, Kartli, Igoeti village, 15.v.1958. N. Ketzchoweli, s. n. (Holotype, TBI !).

Examination of a large number of herbarium specimens from Central Asia of P. intermedia at LE and PE shows that leaves are also ternate, with 35–65 segments, 3–11 mm wide, glabrous on both sides, rarely with bristles along veins on the upper side. We have not discovered any reliable differences in morphology between the Caucasian population and those in Central Asia. Therefore, it is reasonable to identify the Caucasian population as P. intermedia and to reduce P. majko to a synonym. Paeonia intermedia is found in Xinjiang (China), Kazakhstan, Kirghizstan, Tadzhikistan, and Uzbekistan, where it grows usually in sunny spots among bushes and grasses at altitudes below 3000 m. It is possible that there is only a single population (in a forest with only five individuals) in the Caucasus