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Dec 10, 2009
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Dictionary of Phrase and Fable—P

Peony

(The). So called, according to fable, from Paeon, the physician who cured the wounds received by the gods in the Trojan war. The seeds were, at one time, worn round the neck as a charm against the powers of darkness. Virgil and Ovid speak of its sanative virtues. Others tell us Paeon was a chieftain who discovered the plant.

“Vetustissima inventu paeonia est, nomenque auctoris retinet, quam quidam pentorobon appellant, alii glycysiden.” —Pliny, xxv. 10.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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