Dr. Fangyun Cheng is a professor at Beijing Forestry University where he
teaches Ornamental Plant Propagation and Nursery Management. Dr. Cheng’s research
interest is focused on the breeding and propagation of ornamental plants,
especially Paeonia. He is a leading authority and researcher on tree
peonies.
Fangyun grew
up in a village in Gansu province in Northwest China near where there are still
wild populations of the tree peony P. rockii. Fangyun’s interest in peonies was
stimulated early in life by his grandfather who grew various ornamentals,
including two classic cultivars of tree peony.
Fangyun Cheng obtained his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees from the Biology
Department of Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, China where he majored in
Botany. For the Ph.D. degree he majored
in Ornamental Plants in the College of Landscape Architecture of Beijing
Forestry University, Beijing, China. Following completion of his Master’s
degree in 1987, he started his research work on the Mudan as the tree peony is
known in China and he taught biology for approximately 10 years in Lanzhou. Following
completion of his Ph.D., he spent two years as a special researcher of the Japanese
Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), at Shimane University, Matsue,
Japan, studying relationships of Japanese and Chinese cultivars of P.
suffruticosa. Since 2000, Dr. Cheng has been a professor in the College of Landscape
Architecture of Beijing Forestry University.
Dr. Cheng’s research is mainly on tree peonies endemic to China. It is focused
mostly on two topics, breeding and propagation of both species and cultivars
directed towards the sustainable development of the peony industry in China. Studies by Dr. Cheng on Rockii hybrids led to
the publication of the book “Chinese Flare Mudan” in 2005.
He has received many awards for his teaching and research on peonies.
Dr. Cheng’s research group is composed primarily of M.Sc. and Ph.D. students
working on a wide variety of research topics on tree peonies.
The propagation of tree peonies is difficult and
slow and therefore Dr. Cheng has spent many years investigating methods to
improve peony propagation techniques including micro propagation by tissue
culture. He also works on the domestication of tree peonies from wild peony
species. Other studies include the genetic and hormonal controls of re-blooming
in tree peonies, the genetic relationships among tree peony species and hybrid
origins of different cultivars using gene sequencing and markers. Dr. Cheng has
done extensive studies on the endangered tree peony, Paeonia rockii and worked
to conserve this and other endemic species. In addition to working on peonies as ornamental plants, Dr. Cheng has
also been investigating the potential of tree peonies as an oil seed crop in
China.
