68 FLOWERS OF LAKES, RIVERS, ETC. 



The anthers open in the sun, closing in wet weather. The plant is 

 autochorous, that is to say the achenes are dispersed by the plant's 

 own agency. The achenes or fruit fall immediately around the parent 



stems. 



This graceful plant is a sand-loving plant, growing on sandy soil, 

 derived from sandy or silty beds, rarely mixed with clay or marl, chiefly 



alluvium. 



Two species of cluster- 

 cup fungus, or Puccinia, 

 P. persistcns and P. tha- 

 lictri, grow on this plant, 

 and it is galled by Ceci- 

 domyia thalictri. Cater- 

 pillars of the moths, the 

 Setaceous Hebrew char- 

 acter Noctua c-nigrum, 

 and Red Sword - grass 

 (Calocampa vetusta), feed 

 on it. 



The name Thalictrum 

 is derived from the Greek 

 t hallos, a shoot, and was 

 bestowed by Dioscorides. 

 The specific name flavum 

 is Latin for yellow. The 

 English name Meadow 

 Rue refers to its rue-like 

 leaves. 



This fine species is 



called False Rhubarb, Fen Rue, Meadow Rue, and Meadow Rhubarb. 

 The last name is bestowed because of its laxative properties, so Lyte 

 says, and because the roots are yellow, like rhubarb. 



When used with honey the leaves were said by Pliny to cure ulcers. 

 A dye has been made from the roots for dyeing wool, of a yellow colour. 

 The shoots have been used by country people in Bucks to boil in aie. 

 ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 



2. Thalictrum flavum, L. Leaves radical, alternate, no involucre, 

 panicle corymbose, flowers erect, sepals imbricate, 4-5, achenes with 

 I pendulous seed, carpels awnless. 



MKADOW RUE (Thalictrum flavum, L.) 



