Paeonia sterniana

Paeonia sterniana is a hairless perennial herbaceous plant of up to 90 cm high, with leaves alternately set along the stems, which flowers in it home range in May, while the seeds are ripe as off September. It is a diploid nothospecies with ten chromosomes (2n=10), that results from hybridisation between P. lactiflora and P. mairei.

Root, stem and leaves. It has thick tapering roots, that are reminiscent of carrots and are up to 30 cm long and 1½ cm thick. The lower leaves consist of three sets of three or more leaflets, those in the middle with three main segments and each one incised, while the side leaflets have two unequal segments. The leaflets are dark green above and glaucous beneath, linear-oblong or lanceolate in shape, 5–12 cm long and 1-2½ cm wide, with a base that gradually narrows into the leaflet stalk segments, lobed or with an entire margin and a pointy tip. The number of segments and lobes may be between twenty and forty.

Flowers, fruits and seed. The flowers occur with one together at the end of the stem, are 8–10 cm in diameter, although sometimes aborted flower buds may be found in the axil of highest leaves. Each flower is subtended by three or four unequal leaflet-like bracts. Each flower has three, rarely four roundish sepals of 2-2½ × 1½-2 cm, more or less extending into a narrow tip. …

Paeonia sterniana grows among shrubs on stony slopes, and in oak forest, between 2800–3500 m altitude, in southeastern Tibet (Tsangpo Valley), particularly in Kongbo, Tamnyen, and Gyala.

This species is said to be easy to grow, though requiring well-drained soil, and thought to be particularly suited for rock gardens.

== References ==

The species was named in honor of Frederick Claude Stern, who supported plant hunting in China and wrote a comprehensive book on peonies.