Paeonia daurica can be found scattered in the Balkans (Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia, northern Greece), the Crimea, the Caucasus (Dagestan and Krasnodar Krai in Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan), Kaçkar Mountains (Turkey), the Alborz Mountains (northern Iran), Talysh Mountains (Azerbaijan), and in Lebanon. The typical P. daurica subsp. daurica is widespread, but is not sympatric with the other subspecies, and does not occur in the Velebit, Caucasus and Alborz mountains. P. daurica subsp. coriifolia occurs at elevations below 1000 m in the west and north-west of the Caucasus and it is found in deciduous forests dominated by oak, beech, elm, maple and ash or in mixed forests of fir, oak and beech, growing on a wide range of limestone, sandstone and volcanic rocks. P. daurica subsp. mlokosewitschii is only known from eastern Georgia, north-western Azerbaijan and adjacent Russia, where it grows in deciduous oak, beech, elm, maple and chestnut forests. P. daurica subsp. wittmanniana is found in north-western Georgia and the upper reaches of the Mzymta River in adjacent Russia where it grows in both deciduous forests and subalpine and alpine meadows between 1000 and 2300 m, only on limestone. P. daurica subsp. macrophylla is confined to the mountains of south-western Georgia and north-eastern Turkey from 1200 to 2200 m, although it has been found as low as 800 m. It can be found in deciduous or mixed forests and in glades, but there seems to be no preference for any soil type. P. daurica subsp. tomentosa occurs in the Talysch and Alborz Mountains in south-eastern Azerbaijan and northern Iran where it occurs in deciduous forests and pastures on poor soils derived from sandstone at altitudes between 1100 and 1800 m. P. daurica subsp. velebitensis only grows at elevations between 900 and 1200 m in the Velebit Mountains (Dinaric Alps) of Croatia.