Peony
Parts Usually Used
Root
Description of Plant(s) and Culture
The peony is a perennial plant; the thick, knobby rootstock produces a green, juicy stem from 2-3 feet high. The leaves are ternate or bi-ternate, with large, ovate-lanceolate leaflets. The large, solitary, red or purplish-red flowers resemble roses and bloom from May to August. Other varieties: The tree peony (P. suffruticosa); the root is used similarly to the common peony. The wild peony (P.
brownii); a tea from roots for lung trouble. Batipi, (N. Paiute); Doo yah gum hoo (Washoes); Newatama, (Paiute).
Where Found
Grows wild in southern Europe and is cultivated as a garden flower elsewhere.
Medicinal Properties
Antispasmodic, astringent, diuretic, emmenagogue, sedative Cultivated peony used as blood tonic Wild red peony used more as an emmenagogue
Biochemical Information
5% asparagin and benzoic acid, also paeoniflorin, paeonol, paeonin, triterpenoids, sistosterol
Legends, Myths and Stories
Nez Perce Indians said to be the finest light cavalry in the world at the time of Chief Joseph, were very horse-conscious, and lost no opportunity to improve horse-racing. The seeds of wild peony were chewed and then put in the horse’s mouth an instant before the race began. He always won. According to the Roman writer Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD), the peony was the oldest of all cultivated flowers, during the Trojan Wars.
Modern botanists have no way of authenticating Pliny’s statement, but we do know that the Chinese emperor Chin Ming (2737-2697 BC) cultivated these flowers. The peony takes its name from the Greek legendary physician Paeon who first learned of the plant’s important medicinal use of lessening the pains of childbirth. Paeon was said to have been eventually transformed into a peony by Zeus.
In the Middle Ages ground peony seeds were taken as a preventative against bad and melancholy dreams. Today, the root is still valued in Chinese medicine, where 2 species are used: both the red-and-white flowered (P. lactiflora) and (P. suffruticosa) or the tree peony.
Uses
Historically in European folk tradition, herbalists employed peony root for jaundice as well as kidney and bladder complaints, generally administering an extract prepared by steeping the root in wine. A decoction of the root was utilized for gout, asthma accompanied by cramps, and dysmenorrhea. Traditional practitioners distinguished between varieties, employing cultivated peony as a blood tonic, while wild red peony was favored as an emmenagogue.
The root was also historically prescribed for chorea, spasms, and other neurological conditions, and it was noted within traditional herbals to produce emetic and cathartic effects. Externally, practitioners applied the bruised root to wounds and bruises.
Warning
The entire plant is poisonous, the flowers especially so. A tea made from flowers can be fatal. Do not use without medical supervision.
Bibliography
American Folk Medicine , by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, 1973 The Complete Medicinal Herbal , by Penelope Ody, Dorling Kindersley, Inc, 232 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, First American Edition, copyright 1993 Chinese Medicinal Herbs , compiled by Shih-Chen Li, Georgetown Press, San Francisco, California, 1973. The Complete Medicinal Herbal , by Penelope Ody, Dorling Kindersley, Inc, 232 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, First American Edition, copyright 1993 The Herbalist Almanac , by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, copyright 1988, fifth printing, 1994 The Herb Book , by John Lust, Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY.
copyright 1974. , Lotus Press, PO Box 325, Twin Lakes. , West Nyack, NY, 1987. The Yoga of Herbs: An Ayurvedic Guide to Herbal Medicine , by Dr. David Frawley & Dr. Vasant Lad, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, Second edition, 1988. , 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023