Bewitching Yellow. Paeonia daurica mlokosewitschii, Yellow Peony, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
I for one generally associate Peony flowers with red or pink, perhaps with white. But here's a wonderful one that's yellow. It hails from the Caucasus Mountains so it's used to chilly, windy and wet spring weather. Here in the Hortus it grows on quite rich earth; but 'back home' it sends its long and carrot-like roots down into rocky, mountainous slopes. Relatively recently it has come to be known in English as 'Molly-the-Witch' on account of the specific which is considered hard to pronounce.
It was assigned that specific by Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Lomakin (1863-1930) a younger Russian colleague of Ludwik Franciscek Młokosiewicz (1831-1909). Młokosiewicz was one of those indefatigable and adventurous naturalists in the service of the Russian empire. As a young man he was drafted into the Imperial Army and opted to serve in the Caucasian Division. His botanical proclivities were rewarded and he was able to travel through many regions in the Caucasus and also in Persia. Ah! those nineteenth-century Russian expeditious naturalists! Someone should write a book about them (I'm unaware if there is one).
Bewitching Yellow. Paeonia daurica mlokosewitschii, Yellow Peony, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
I for one generally associate Peony flowers with red or pink, perhaps with white. But here's a wonderful one that's yellow. It hails from the Caucasus Mountains so it's used to chilly, windy and wet spring weather. Here in the Hortus it grows on quite rich earth; but 'back home' it sends its long and carrot-like roots down into rocky, mountainous slopes. Relatively recently it has come to be known in English as 'Molly-the-Witch' on account of the specific which is considered hard to pronounce.
It was assigned that specific by Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Lomakin (1863-1930) a younger Russian colleague of Ludwik Franciscek Młokosiewicz (1831-1909). Młokosiewicz was one of those indefatigable and adventurous naturalists in the service of the Russian empire. As a young man he was drafted into the Imperial Army and opted to serve in the Caucasian Division. His botanical proclivities were rewarded and he was able to travel through many regions in the Caucasus and also in Persia. Ah! those nineteenth-century Russian expeditious naturalists! Someone should write a book about them (I'm unaware if there is one).