CAROLINA ANEMONE 



Anemone caroliniana Walt. 



April 



Open prairie hills, sands 



.M;irkiii<i- the eastern-flung boundaries of old 

 |K)st-i:!aeinl flood plains and lakes in middle 

 Illinois -arc h>u<s low rau_ii"('s of sand hills and 

 wind-chisclril loess Mull's which, thrtni^uh tlu' passage ot many centuries 

 of west winds and })()unng })rairie rains, have been curry-combed into 

 an almost conical shape. They ai'(> miniature mountains, the loess blutfs, 

 and the saiul hills are great, stai)ili/ced dunes whos<! substance of sand 

 nevertheless may begin to move if the tight covering of vegetation is 

 displayed. \\\i\ the i-oots of pi-aiiie plants grow deeply and form a heavy 

 mat. As long as they stay, the sand hills stay in place; the loess blulfs, 

 a more stable substance which seldom tu'oih's, holds its top soil as long 

 as the ]flants aiv there. 



High on the lops of tlicM' h.ills are tiny I'osettes of small, compound, 

 feniy leaves. They are thick, sturdy leaves in sjjite of their small size, 

 and their roots are one with the depths of soil which they require for life. 

 The leaves are silvei'y-pmple anil pale iireen in sjiring. Then, \inder the 

 alternately benetirent face of the .\pi-il sun and tlie cold, chill rains of a 

 hestitating spring, the curled-down, ro.<e-grey. silky buds finally stand 

 erect and bloom — the Carolina anemones. They arc three to ten inches 

 tall, noble little ])lants which should know alpine heights of timberliue 

 country, not the tops of prairie hills. The flower, like most alpine plants, 

 is nmch larger in jjrojjortion to the plant than lowland flowers. The 

 flower may be three inches high and an inch and a half wide, with 15 to 

 18 narrow, ])ale ])ink, lavender, or white ju'tals around a yellow center. 

 This is a woteiii nlaiit whose eastern boundarv is reached in Illinois. 



O'O 



