Peony Flower　

It’s already May.
The other day, peony flowers bloomed in my garden.
Here is a Japanese saying which is compared a beautiful woman to flowers.

 

“When standing is like paeoniae radix, when sitting is like peony flower
and when walking is like lily. “

 

When I see peony flowers, I always think of the saying above automatically.
But actually I am not sure what paeoniae radix is like, so I did a little research.

 

 

Both flowers are similar but peony is a tree and paeoniae radix is a plant.
As for the leaves, peony’s one is mat with serrated edges
and paeoniae radix’s one is shiny and round.
So when you are not sure which is which, you should just see the leaves.

 

By the way, peony is China’s national flower.
On the other hand, paeoniae radix is a popular crude drug in traditional Chinese medicine
and its dried roots are used in many Chinese medicines.

 

(H.S)