or PEONY-SHRUB of China: also called boa-ouang, or "the king of flowers;" and peluang-kin, "an hundred ounces of gold," in allusion to the exquisite price given formerly by some of the virtuosi for certain species of this plant. The mou-tan seems to claim pre-eminence, not only on account of the splendor and number of its flowers, and of the sweet odour which they diffuse around, but also on account of the multitude of leaves which compose them, and of the beautiful golden spots with which they are interspersed. This plant, which is of a shrubby nature, shoots forth a number of branches, which form a top almost as large as those of the finest orange-trees that are planted in boxes. Some of the mou-tan have been seen eight or ten feet in height. The reason why few are raised at present to this size is, because their flowers are less beautiful, and their branches being too weak, cannot sustain their weight. The root of the mou-tan is long and fibrous, of a pale yellow colour, and covered with a greyish or reddish rind. Its leaves are deeply indented, and of a much darker green above than below. Its flowers, which are composed of num- Mou-tan, herbes petals, blow like a rose, and are supported by a calyx composed of four leaves. From the bottoms of the petals arise several stamina without any order, which bear on their tops small antheræ, of a beautiful golden colour. The fruit bend downwards like those of common peony, burst when they become dry, and shed their seeds.

There are three kinds of mou-tan; common mou-tan, dwarf mou-tan, and the mou-tan tree. The last species seems at present to be lost; some of them were formerly seen which were 25 feet in height. Dwarf mou-tan is little esteemed; a few plants of this kind are only cultivated to preserve the species. Common mou-tan, which has always been highly prized by florists, is more generally dispersed. It is raised like an espalier in form of a fan, bush, or orange-tree. Some of them flower in spring, others in summer, and some in autumn. These different species must each be cultivated in a different manner.

The vernal and summer mou-tan are those that are cultivated in greatest number; those of autumn require too lavish an attention during the great heat of the dog-days. The mou-tan of each season are divided into single and double; the former are subdivided into those of 100 leaves and 1000 leaves; the second have a large calyx filled with stamina, that bear on their tops gold-coloured antheræ. These are the only kind that produce seed. The flowers of both appear under the different forms of a bason, pomegranate, marigold, &c. Some of the mou-tan are red, others violet, purple, yellow, white, black, and blue; and these colours, varied by as many shades, produce a prodigious number of different kinds. We are assured, that the Chinese florists have the secret of changing the colour of their mou-tan, and of giving them whatever tints they please; but they cannot effect this change but upon those plants which have never produced flowers.

A mou-tan, to please the eye of a Chinese florist, must have a rough crooked stalk, full of knots, and of a blackish green colour; its branches must cross one another, and be twisted in a thousand fantastical figures; the shoots that proceed from them must be of a delicate green shaded with red; the leaves must be large, of a beautiful green, very thick, and supported by reddish stalks; its flowers must blow at different times, in form of a tuft, be all of the same colour, and stand erect upon their stems; they must also be seven or eight inches in diameter, and exhale a sweet and agreeable odour.