Paeoniaceae

P. mascula (L.) Miller, Gard. Dict. No. 1(1768). Syn: P. officinalis var. mascula L.,Sp. Pl. 530(1753).
Leaves simply biternate, or with some leaflets further divided, thus with 9-16 narrowly to broadly elliptic segments, glabrous to pilose beneath. Flowers 8-14 cm across, petals red. Follicles 3-5, 2-4 cm, white-tomentose, with a truncate apex and sessile stigma. - A complex species, of which 2 subspecies occur in Turkey:
1. Leaves pilose beneath with 12-16 segments subsp. arietina
1. Leaves glabrous or sparsely pilose beneath with 9-10(-12) segments, subsp. mascula
subsp. mascula. Syn: P. corallina Retz,. Qbs. Bot. 3: 34 (1783); P. kevachensis Azn. in Mag. Bot. Lap. 16: 7 (1917); P. corallina var. caucasica Schipcz. in Not. Syst. Leningrad 2: 45 (1921)! P. caucasica (Schipcz.) Schipcz. in Fl. URSS 7: 28 (1937); P. corallina var. orientalis Thiéb., Fl. Lib.-Syr. 1: 37 (1936); P. arietina var. orientalis (Thiéb.) Stern in J. Roy. Hort. Soc. 68: 127 (1943); P. kurdistanica Zohary in Pal. J. Bot., Jer. ser. 2: 155 (1944). I?: Stern, Study of Paeonia 68-69 (1946). Fl. 4-6. Oak and beech scrub, rocky slopes, 1000-2200 m.
Described from Switzerland.
S.Anatolia, Kurdistan. Islands. C3 Antalya: Teke Da.. 1100-1200 m, D. 15199! Co Hatay: Antakya to Yayladağ, 1000 m, D. 27159! Seyhan: d. Bahçe, Dumanlı Da., 1300 m, D. 26879! C9 Bitlis: d. Kotum, Karz Da., 2200 m, D. 24603! Is.: Samos, D. 1639!
Scattered through Europe, Caucasia, Cyprus, N. Iraq, N. Iran.