ANEMONE. 



ANEMONE. 



A. vitifolia, a Nepal species, both 

 ■witli large white flowers, and A. nar- 

 cissiflbra, are well deserving of cul- 

 tivation. The Jap an Anemone, A. 

 japonica, is, however, perhaps, the 

 finest species of the genxis. It is a 

 native of China, where it grows in 

 moist woods, and whence it was intro- 

 duced in 1846. It is quite hardy in 

 the open air in the neighbourhood of 

 London, and continues producing its 

 beautiful rose-coloured flowers till 

 the end of September or beginning of 

 October. It grows best in a moist 

 and somewhat shady situation. There 

 is a hybrid raised between this species 

 and A . vitifolia, which has pale pink 

 flowers, and is of most luxuriant 

 growth. It is much more hardy than 

 the common kind, but its foliage is 

 so abundant, that it requires con- 

 siderable space. The Hepatica was 

 once called Anemone Hepatica, 

 though this name has been long 

 changed to Hepatica triloba. (See 

 Hepa'tica.) The garden Anemones, 

 on the contrary, which are what are 

 called Florists' Flowers, require the 

 utmost care in their cultivation. 

 All the numerous and splendid 

 kinds of these plants which are met 

 with in gardens, spring from three 

 species: viz., A. coronaria, the gar- 

 land or Poppy Anemone, the sepals 

 of which are jwhite, with a red ring ! 

 round the centre inside the flower, 

 and the sepals roimded at the tip ; 

 A. stelldta, or pavonlna, the sepals 

 of which are purplish, and of one 

 colour throughout ; and A . hortensis, 

 the sepals of which are pointed and 

 pm-plish, with a white centre. The 

 tubers of these fine kinds of Ane- 

 mones, and their hybrids and varie- 

 ties, are sold in the seed shops by the 

 hundred. They resemble little 

 bunches of small black potatoes, 

 which may be divided, each portion 

 producing a new plant, though it will 

 probably be too weak to flower the 



first year. As A. coronaria, which 

 is the parent of the finest florists' 

 Anemones, comes from Sji-ia and 

 Asia Minor, where the ground is 

 parched and dry in the hot season, 

 the tubers should be takeu up in our 

 moist climate every summer, as soon 

 as the flowers are over and the leaves 

 have turned yellow. They should 

 be laid on shelves formed of laths, 

 and then be kept in a warm, dry, airy 

 situation, till October, when they 

 should be planted • in beds prepared 

 for their reception ; and, where ex- 

 pense is not an object, these beds 

 should be dug out to the depth of 

 aboiit a foot. In the bottom of the 

 pit thus formed, should be spread a 

 layer, six or eight inches thick, of 

 rotten cow-dung — if two years old so 

 much the better; and on this, fresh 

 loamy soil, so as to raise the bed 

 three or four inches above the level 

 of the walks. The surface of the bed 

 is then raked smooth, and drills or 

 furrows made in it about five inches 

 apart, and two inches deep. A little 

 sand should be strewed along these 

 drills, and the Anemone roots placed 

 in them three or four inches apart. 

 Care must be taken, in planting, to 

 let the tubers have the side which 

 contains the bud uppermost ; and it 

 sometimes requires rather a close ex- 

 amination to discover which side this 

 is,, particularly if the dry fibrous roots 

 have been rubbed off", as the bud is 

 not very conspicuous. All the pieces 

 accidentally broken off should be pre- 

 served, as they will all grow and form 

 fresh tubers. The bed should be 

 covered with bast mats stretched over 

 hoops, or bundles of straw tied to- 

 gether, when danger is apprehended 

 from frost ; but this covering should 

 be so contrived as to be easily re- 

 moved when necessary, as the tubers 

 are very liable to be injured, and even 

 to become mouldy, by damp. When 

 the plants begin to grow, they should 



