CROWFOOT FAMILY 



These Anemones are commonly found in colonies 

 along the margins of open woods where the soil is light 

 and partly shaded. They are often clustered about 

 old stumps. The beautiful, delicate blossoms on 

 slender, wiry stems bend and sway and yield and come 

 to the passing breeze, so that they are not inappro- 

 priately named. The flowers have no true petals. 

 The flower-bud nods and its outer surface is flushed 

 with pink, but when fully open a white star faces the 

 sun. Many stamens with cream-colored anthers are 

 clustered about the central group of small green pistils 

 in the centre of the flower-cup. The effect of the plant 

 as a whole is enchanting, and is only surpassed in 

 delicacy and beauty by its blood-brother, the Rue- 

 Anemone. 



The blossoms stand up well in the sunshine but 

 droop in more or less discouraged fashion at night or 

 during cloudy weather. For some reason not clear to 

 us the Anemone appealed greatly to the ancients; 

 it was sacred to Anemos, the wind-god of the Greeks, 

 and they believed that without his especial favor it 

 could not open. The Greek poets also tell us that 

 Anemone originated from the tears dropped by Venus 

 as she grieved in the forest over the death of Adonis. 

 We are also told that the Romans beheved that Anem- 

 one possessed a mystic charm to ward off fever, and 

 in this faith they sought the flower and wore it much 

 in the same spirit that we seek and wear the four-leaf 

 clover. The Latin name is Anemone, but the English 

 form is Anemone. 



70 



