(2005)  Page(s) 171.  
 
Hakuo-jishi (King of White Lion or White-tailed Lion) Appealing semi-double, pure white flowers with a hint of magenta at the base of the petals, and a white sheath.

(2005)  Page(s) 161.  Includes photo(s).
 
'Hana-daijin' (Magnificent Flower or Minister of Flowers) Semi-double, beetroot purple (71 A) flowers have petals weith serrated tips and diffuse dark red flares at the base. The anthers are golden yellow with red filaments and surround green carpels with red styles and a deep red sheath. A pretty plant, but the flowers have little fragrance.

(2005)  Page(s) 26.  
 
Among the most important conclusions of Sang's [phylogenetic] analysis is that Paeonia emodi appears to be a natural hybrid between P. veitchii and P. lactiflora...

(2005)  Page(s) 44-45.  Includes photo(s).
 
The Himalayan peony, Paeonia emodi, is an aristocratic perennial with large, pure white flowers. It grows naturally in Northwest India, Kashmir, western Nepal, North Pakistan and Tibet (Xizang) (Hong de Yuan et al, 2001). There is a lot of confusion about the plant in the nursery trade and many of the plants that are sold as Paeonia emodi are actually hybrids with P. veitchii ('Early Windflower' or 'Late Windflower'). The true P. emodi is a much bigger plant, which can be distinguished by having larger flowers and broader leaflets, but the difference is sometimes difficult to appreciate until you have seen the Himalayan peony "in the flesh".
It grows to a height of 80 cm (32 in.) and has a similar spread, with glabrous stems and leaves. The foliage is bronze coloured when it appears in the spring, turning dark green as the season progresses. The leaves have up to 15 oblong-elliptic or oblong-lanceolate leaflets with acuminate tips and decurrent leaf blades. Paeonia emodi has 2-4 flowers, which are held elegantly on the tall stems and measure 8-12 cm (3.1-4.7 in.). They have 3 rounded sepals, two of which have a leafy appendage. Young flowers are cone-shaped when they open, but become cup-shaped as they mature, with pure white, obovate petals. The flowers are unusual because they have a single (rarely 2) greenish yellow carpel, which is covered with stiff yellow hairs and has an erect, greenish white style. The anthers are approximately 1 cm (0.4 in.) long and supported by yellow filaments. It flowers from April to may (mid to late spring) and produces black seeds. It is diploid (2N=10). The buds are more elongated than those of most other species and start to develop early in the season. The majority of early authors suggested that Paeonia emodi is rather delicate and should be planted beneath deciduous trees. However this is at variance with how it grows in nature and plants at the Cambridge University Botanic Garden and royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, in England, grow happily in exposed situations. It needs well-drained soil and will suffer from crown rot if it becomes waterlogged.

(2005)  Page(s) 23.  
 
Tao Sang et al. (1997) believe that the ancestral species, Paeonia mairei, P. veitchii and P. lactiflora, were originally widespread in Eurasia but became confined to Asia during the coldest periods of the Pleistocene.

(2005)  Page(s) 48-49.  
 
Paeonia mairei. This Chinese endemic was first discovered in 1913 by René Maire in Yunann and described by Léveillé in 1915. It grows in deciduous broadleaved forests in Gansu, Guizhou, Hubei, Shaanxi, Yunnan and Sichuan Provinces, at altitudes of 1500-2700 m (500-8700 ft.)...Paeonia mairei grows to a height of 1 m (3.3 ft.), with glabrous stems, and has up to 19 glabrous, elliptic, oblong-obovate or oblong-lanceolate leaflets, measuring 6.0-16.5 cm (2.5-6.5 in.) x 1.8-2.7 cm (0.7-2.8 in.) with caudate or acumniate tips. It has single, solitary pink or red flowers with yellow anthers, supported by purplish red filaments and 2-3 glabrous or tomentose carpels with short golden brown hairs and red styles. It is diploid (2N=10). plants flower from late April to late May (late spring).
Phylogenetic analysis suggests that Paeonia mairei was originally far more widespread and may be the ancestor of several European species. However its descendants were far more adaptable and it became extinct in many parts of its range, eventually becoming restricted to Asia, where the climate was less extreme...It appears to be related to P. obovata and P. japonica. ...It gros best when protected from hot sunshine and needs well-drained, humus-rich soil.

(2005)  Page(s) 54-55.  
 
Paeonia obovata
This is one of the most widespread species of peony, which occurs in China, Japan, North and South Korea and the island of Sakhalin. It obtained its name from the unusual shape of its terminal leaflets, which are broader towards the tip than at the base, in other words obovate.
It is a robust plant with glabrous stems and grows to a height of approximately 60 cm (24 in.), with solitary pink, white or red flowers. The biternate leaves have 7-9 leaflets, which are dark green and glabrous above and slightly glaucous beneath, with a scattering of simple hairs. The lower leaves are unequal with oval or oblong lateral leaflets and larger terminal leaflets; both are cuneate at the base and acuminate at the tips. The white var. alba is the most readily available. Plants can be diploid or tetraploid [subspecies willmottiae] (2N=10 or 20)....Paeonia obovata can be grown under deciduous trees as long as it gets full sunshine for at least part of the day. It will also grow in the open, but needs to be provided with some shade from hot afternoon sun. Both of the white-flowered forms come true from seed.

(2005)  Page(s) 54.  
 
Paeonia obovata...robust plant ...with solitary pink, white, or red flowers....The white var. alba is the most readily available.

(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).

(2005)  Page(s) 26-27.  
 
Among the most important conclusions of Sang's [phylogenetic] analysis is that ...P. sterniana is a hybrid between P. emodi and P. mairei.....

In 1997 Josef Halda produced a new classification for the genus Paeonia, which created new sections and subsections and absorbed several perfectly good species into others. In Halda's classification Paeonia sterniana becomes a subspecies of P. emodi....