Magenta Peony Photo Print

"Magenta Peony" by Catherine Sherman. A bright magenta peony blooms in a Breckenridge, Colorado, historic garden. The peony is a flowering plant in the genus Paeonia, the only genus in the family Paeoniaceae. They are native to Asia, Southern Europe and Western North America and have been cultivated fro more than 2,000 years. Most are herbaceous perennial plants 0.5 to 1.5 metres (1.6 to 4.9 ft) tall, but some resemble trees 1.5 to 3 metres (4.9 to 9.8 ft) tall. They have compound, deeply lobed leaves and large, often fragrant, flowers, ranging from red to white or yellow, in late spring and early summer. The peony is named after Paeon (also spelled Paean), a student of Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine and healing. Asclepius became jealous of his pupil; Zeus saved Paeon from the wrath of Asclepius by turning him into the peony flower. The family name "Paeoniaceae" was first used by Friedrich K.L. Rudolphi in 1830.