Paeonia intermedia C. A. Mey. ex Ledeb.

Herbs perennial, to 70 cm tall. Roots cylindric, to 2.5 cm in diam., woody when old; fibrous roots thickened, tuberous. Proximal leaves 2-ternate; leaflets several times segmented, ± decurrent at base; segments sometimes lobed; segments and lobes linear, 6--16 × 0.4--1.5 cm, glabrous abaxially, bristly along veins adaxially, apex acuminate. Flowers solitary, terminal, single, 6.5--12 cm wide. Bracts 3, leaflike, unequal. Sepals 3--5, often red-purple, ovate-orbicular, 1.5--2.5 × 1--2 cm, apex mostly rounded (at least 2 sepals not caudate). Petals 7--9, purple-red, obovate, 3.5--5.5 × 1.5--3 cm, apex irregularly incised. Filaments 4--5 mm; anthers yellow, oblong. Disc annular. Carpels (1 or)2 or 3(--5), glabrous to densely shortly hirsute. Follicles 2--2.5 × 1.1--1.3 cm, usually yellow shortly hirsute, less frequently glabrous. Seeds black, glossy, oblong, ca. 5 × 3 mm. Fl. May--Jun, fr. Aug--Sep.

N Xinjiang [Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia (SW Siberia), Tajikistan, Uzbekistan].

Sparse woods, scrub slopes, grassy slopes; 1100--3000 m.

Paeonia anomala Linnaeus var. intermedia (C. A. Meyer) O. Fedtschenko & B. Fedtschenko.