Paeonia officinalis ‘lc mollis,’
A plant named after Paeon, physician to the Greek gods, by Theophrastus (372–c. 287 BCE). For centuries, it has had a large place in classical antiquity as well as in ancient and modern Chinese medicine. In the time of Hippocrates, it was used to treat epilepsy. Dioscorides (40–90 CE) wrote that the root of the plant provokes menstruation and that it could be used to expel the placenta following childbirth. The root of herbaceous peonies has been used in Chinese medicine for 1,500 years for menstrual disorders and to relieve the symptoms of menopause.