1. Flowers of Peony
，Flower Form
，Flower Colour
，Florescence
，Flower Fragrance
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Chinese tree peony flower over many years without a break, from a seedling aged 4-5 years to senescent plants aged over hundred years. In the various places in China, there are quite a few very old peonies still living.
In a normal year it takes 50-60 days from breaking of bud dormancy to flowering. This period varies between different cultivars. Those flowering early or with simpler flower forms take a shorter period, but late flower-in cultivars or those with higher rank flower forms take longer. The flowering period of different varieties is generally 3-10 days for individual flowers. The overall flowering period for a mature plant is about 25-30 days. The date flowering begins the length of the flowering period and flower quality depends on the variety, weather conditions and the cultivation environment. A warm winter affects some varieties that benefit from low temperature and results in poorer flowering, and is particularly harmful for plants being forced. An excessively cold winter can damage buds and thus affect flowering in the next spring. At flowering time, dry and hot winds or excessive rain shorten the flowering period and damage flowers.

(1) Flower Form
Different amounts of petals or different degrees of petaloidy define different forms within the divisions of flower forms. There are mainly 11 flower forms.
Single Form: 1 - 3 whorls of normal petals that are wide, large and flat with a wide-ovate, ovoid or obovate shape. Stamens normal and pistils normal and fertile.
Lotus Form: Large and neat petals in 4 - 5 slightly overlapping whorls forming the shape of a lotus flower. Stamens normal and pistils normal.
Chrysanthemum Form: 6 whorls and over. Petals gradually decreasing in size towards the center. Stamens normal or fewer and petaloid in the center of the flower; pistils normal.
Rose Form: Petals generally longer than in chrysanthemum form, becoming smaller from the outside towards the center. Most stamens disappeared. Pistils normal, slightly petaloid, reduced or completely disappeared.
Hundred Proliferate-Flower Form: Here the flower form has the appearance of top-bottom overlapping of two or more individual flowers of the Hundred petals sub-section. The Hundred petals sub-section includes Single Form, Lotus Form, Chrysanthemum Form, and Rose Form.
Golden Stamen Form: 2 - 3 whorled petals, large and straight. Bright golden stamens, large anthers and anther stalks. Pistil normal.
Anemone Form: 2 - 3 outer whorls of wide and straight petals. Stamens completely petaloid and have become narrow and straight petals. Pistils normal or reduced.
Golden Circle Form: 2 - 3 outer whorls of wide and large petals. Most stamens petaloid, but a whorl of normal stamens remains as a golden circle between the narrow interior petals and the wide outer petals. Pistils normal, or petaloid, or reduced.
Crown Form: Wide and expanded outer petals. Completely petaloid stamens usually with the appearance of becoming larger from outside to inside, sometimes mixed with a few narrow silk-like incompletely petaloid stamens. Pistils are petaloid, reduced or completely disappeared. The center of the flower is raised, forming a crown shape.
Globular Form: All stamens are highly petaloid with shapes and sizes similar to those of normal petals. Pistils petaloid or reduced. The whole flower resembles a Chinese artistic ball.
Crown Proliferate-Flower Form: Here there are various forms which have the appearance of two or more individual flowers of the Crown sub-section overlapped from top to bottom. The Crown sub-section includes Golden Stamen Form, Anemone Form, Golden-Circle Form, Crown Form, and Globular Form.

(2) Flower Colour
The colours of Chinese peonies are rich and varied. There are primarily eight monochromatic categories denoted by white, yellow, pink, and red, purple, black (dark purple), and blue (pinkish blue) and green. There are also the types with two colours, one of which bleeds into the other, and the multi-color type which is versicolor. There are some difference in a type of colour, such as red varieties include light red, peachblow, magenta, bright red, fiery-red, purplish red etc. There is not green in herbaceous peonies, but multi-color cultivars are more than tree peony.

(3) Florescence
The three flowering periods of tree peony and herbaceous peony: early, mid-season and late are below, based on the flower chronology in the locations of Luoyang and the central section of China.
Florescence of tree peony: From early April to early May.
Early blossoming varieties: From early April to early mid-April.
Mid-season blossoming varieties: From mid-April to late April.
Late blossoming varieties: From the end of April to early May.
Florescence of herbaceous peony: From late April to late mid-May.
Early blossoming varieties: From late April to early May.
Mid-season blossoming varieties: From early May to early mid-May.
Late blossoming varieties: From early mid-May to late mid-May.
Florescence of a single flower varies between different varieties. The flowering period of different varieties is generally 5-10 days for individual flowers. The overall flowering period for a mature plant is about 25-30 days. The time of the flowering date, the length of the flowering period and flower quality depends on the variety, weather conditions and the cultivation environment. A worm spring advances flowering, while a cold spring delays it. A warm winter affects some varieties that benefit from low temperature and results in poorer flowering, and is particularly harmful for plants being forced. An excessively cold winter can damage buds and thus affect flowering in the next spring. At flowering time, dry and hot winds or excessive rain shorten the flowering period and damage flowering.

(4) Flower Fragrance
Most of varieties of tree peony or herbaceous peony have fragrance. The flower fragrance of peonies is divided into three types: delicate fragrance, moderate fragrance, and rich fragrance. The fragrance of a variety varies possibly as weather conditions and the cultivation environment.

2. Plants Types
，Plant Types of Tree Peony
，Plant Heights of Tree Peony
，Plant Types of Herbaceous Peony

Tree peony (Mudan) is an shrub flower, and herbaceous peony (Shaoyao) is a herbaceous flower. The plant of tree peony is commonly made up of roots, permanent woody branches, leaves, flowers and seeds. The plant of herbaceous peony is generally made up of perennial roots, annual herbaceous stems, leaves, flowers and seeds. But in fact many of varieties of peony have not any seeds.

(1) Plant Types of Tree Peony
Tree peony plants naturally form a thicket of stems from ground level. Because of the differences in angular divergence of branches, length between branches nodes, and yearly growth of new shoots, the forms and heights of plants vary. They are categorised as follows.
There are three types:
A. Erect Type: The branches spread straight upward forming small angles generally less than 30o. The distance between nodes on the annual shoots is comparatively long. Because of the rapid and vigorous growth, the plant thickets are tall and upright.
B. Expanding Type: The branches expand out diagonally forming angles between 50o and 60o,so that the plant width is significantly greater than its height. Because of the slower rate of growth, the length between branch nodes is shorter and the overall yearly growth is smaller. Its stout thicket is appropriate for pot planted.
C. Semi-Expanding Type; The angular divergence of branches, the distance between nodes and yearly branch productivity in this type are all intermediate between the Previous two types. Since the branches grow at a slant, a semi-expanding plant thicket is produced.

(2) Plant Heights of Tree Peony
There are three types, based on the average height of 5 to 8-year-old plants.
Tall Type: plant height greater than 80cm
Medium Type: plant height between 40 and 80cm.
Dwarf Type: plant height less than 40cm.
The plant grows from 1.2m to 2.5m in maturity (15 to 20 years).

(3) Plant Types of Herbaceous Peony
The annual stems of herbaceous peony display mainly their plant pattern in the florescence. There are upright, the other are inclined or lateral. In the other growth period, their stems are upright. The height of herbaceous peonies is about between 60cm to 130cm. There are three types, based on the height of clump stems.
Tall Type: plant height greater than 100cm
Medium Type: plant height between 71 and 100cm.
Dwarf Type: plant height less than 70cm