TALL MEADOW RUE 



Thalictrum purpurascens L. 

 CROWFOOT FAMILY 



Growing in open woods and thickets and along roadsides, 

 this Meadow Rue, lifting its big panicles of cream-colored tassels 

 six feet high, is one of the elegant plants of late June or early 

 July. The large but finely divided leaves resemble coarse maiden- 

 hair ferns, and, together with the feathery bloom, give an airy 

 grace to the tall herb. 



It is usually of dioecious habit. Neither male nor female 

 flowers have petals and the sepals are small and drop off early. 

 The male cluster owes its beauty to the masses of anthers drooping 

 on slender filaments, and the female cluster to the numerous 

 bunches of pistils with long, glistening stigmas, which are admir- 

 ably shaped to catch pollen as it drifts through the air. 



There is here no elaborate arrangement for securing fertilization 

 by insects and although they may sometimes be of service, chief 

 dependence seems to be placed on the wind as carrier. Con- 

 sequently the flowers are held above surrounding vegetation, 

 and pollen is produced lavishly to allow for the great waste 

 resultant from this simple method. 



Sometimes the pistillate plants bear also a few stamens with 

 fertile anthers, showing that there is perhaps an ambition to reach 

 the higher development which would be indicated by the pro- 

 duction of perfect flowers, a point already reached by some of 

 the meadow rues. 



In our greatly reduced photograph are shown two male plants 

 on the outside and a female in the centre. 



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