The Steppe Peony Reservation

The steppe peony (Paeonia tenuifolia), has a height of 10-30 cm, with bright red flowers.


Zau de Câmpie is a commune in the Mureş County, Romania. Here, on Bota Hil, in the Northwest of the village, is the only place within the Carpathian arch where the steppe peony plant grows and is the northernmost point in Romania where this species is found.


The first data about this steppe peonies were published in 1846 in Vienna.
The Steppe Peony Reservation from Zau de Câmpie was founded in 1932 by the academician Alexandru Borza, the founder of the Romanian school of botany. The natural reserve area had 2.5 hectares. The area was saved by Marcu Sâncrăian, the "father of the peonies", a passionate villager who protected voluntary the peonies from 1923 (!) to 2006, the year he died. He also fought to include the reservation in Romanian Academy's patrimonium and managed to increase the surface of the reservation at 3.5 hectares.


In the blossoming season (May), that last exactly ten days, the beautiful meadow attracts many lovers of nature;