PEONY: A Metaphoric Journey Through Time

The contemporary literature deals with a taxonomic review of this systematically complex, unigeneric family with special reference to disjunctive distribution, phytoendemism (which is 50%), biogeography, economic potential, survival threat etc. Like any experiments as well as changes in laboratory or society, there are two phases recognized as "Pre" and "Post" phases marked by form of changes, peony has gone through a huge changes in terms of morphology, cytology habit etc. before and after glaciations of Pleistocene era, popularly known as Ice Age 2 which has huge impact on biogeography, paleoecology of the world flora and fauna, e.g. mass extinction as well as confinement of a big number of animals and plants; evolution of herbaceous habit in place of predominant arborescent habit etc. The present study is a sincere effort to follow the footsteps of peonies, went through adverse palaeo-climatic threats of survival, migration, complex reticulate evolution, natural hybridization, anthropogenic exploitation for ornamental and medicinal potential and practices for fifteen hundred years. It is an earnest endeavor to narrate the history of domestication of peony, traverse a long time.