Brown's peony (Paeonia brownii). Photo by Mathesont licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
Foliage of Brown's peony (Paeonia brownii). Photo by jacki-dee licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Brown's peony (Paeonia brownii). Photo by Jim Morefield licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Whereas most species of peony are Eurasian in decent, there are two species of peony that are native to North America. Brown's peony (Paeonia brownii) inhabits high elevation regions of most of northwestern North America. The California peony (Paeonia californica) has a much narrower range, limited to southwestern California. Some feel it should be considered a subspecies of P. brownii. While not as showy as their Eurasian cousins, they are nonetheless quite interesting plants!
California peony (Paeonia californica). Photo by Dagmar Collins licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
California peony (Paeonia californica). Photo by Justin Meissen licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
California peony (Paeonia californica). Photo by Teddy Llovet licensed under CC BY 2.0
Photo Credits: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
Further Reading:
http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=PACA2