Flora of North America species comparison

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Paeonia californica

California peony
Habit Plants 35–75 cm.
Leaves

usually 7–12 per shoot, primary divisions 3–9 × 1–6 cm, bases not notably narrowed (not stalklike), ultimate divisions linear to spatulate, apices usually acute, surfaces not notably glaucous.
Flowers

petals dark red or purplish, almost black, margins pinkish, elliptic, 15–25 mm, usually longer than inner sepals;

filaments 5–8 mm;

anthers 3–7 mm.
Seeds

± curved, ca. 16 mm.
Follicles

3–4 cm.
2n

= 10.

Paeonia californica
Phenology Flowering Dec–Apr(-May).
Habitat Chaparral, coastal scrub
Elevation 0-1500 m (0-4900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Paeonia californica ranges from Monterey County to San Diego County and is known from at least one location in northern Baja California, Mexico.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 8, p. 5.
Parent taxa Paeoniaceae > Paeonia
Sibling taxa
P. brownii
Synonyms P. brownii subsp. californica
Name authority Nuttall: in J. Torrey and A. Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1: 41. 1838 ,
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Fabaceae, Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

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