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Abstract Paeonia ostii is a traditional ornamental and medicinal species that has attracted considerable interest for its high oil value. To facilitate the effective and rational cultivation and application of P. ostii in China, it is necessary to determine its potential spatial habitat distribution and environmental requirements. Using high-resolution environmental data for current and future climate scenarios, the potential suitable area and climatic requirements of P. ostii were modelled. Among the 11 environmental variables investigated, growing degree days, precipitation of the wettest month, mean temperature of the coldest quarter, global UV-B radiation, annual precipitation, and soil pH played major roles in determining the suitability of a habitat for the cultivation of P. ostii. Under the current environmental conditions in China, a total area of 20.31 × 105 km2 is suitable for growing P. ostii, accounting for 21.16% of the country’s total land area. Under the two future climate scenario/year combinations (i.e., representative concentration pathways [RCPs], RCP2.6 and RCP8.5 in 2050), this species would increase its suitable area at high latitudes while decrease at low latitudes. These results present valuable information and a theoretical reference point for identifying the suitable cultivation areas of P. ostii.

Abstract Paeonia ostii, a member of tree peony, is an emerging oil crop with important medical and oil uses and widely cultivated in China. Dissolving the genetic diversity and domestication history of this species is important for further genetic improvements and deployments. We firstly selected 29 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) via transcriptome mining, segregation analyses and polymorphism characterizations; then, 901 individuals from the range-wide samples were genotyped using well-characterized SSR markers. We observed moderate genetic diversity among individuals, and Shaanxi Province was identified as the center of genetic diversity for our cultivated plants. Five well-separated gene pools were detected by STRUCTURE analyses, and the results suggested that multiple independent domestication origins occurred in Shaanxi Province and Tongling City (Anhui Province). Taken together, the genetic evidence and the historical records suggest multiple long-distance introductions after the plant was domesticated in Shandong, Henan and Hunan provinces. The present study provides the first genetic evaluation of the domestication history of P. ostii, and our results provide an important reference for further genetic improvements and deployments of this important crop.