62 THE WOOD ANEMONE. 



Anemone, A. nemorbsa (minus, a grove) is the specific 

 name. * 



In the Meadow Rue, the minute sepals fall off as soon as 

 the flower opens. But the stamens are enlarged and their 

 anthers yellow. Thus a little floral economy does away with 

 the necessity of the usual attractive floral envelopes. 



Classification. The next inquiry is, To what order do 

 the Anemonies and Hepaticas belong ? With stamens poly- 

 androus, hyp6gynous, and pistils distinct, forming simple, 

 unconnected fruits, they agree with the Crowfoots, and their 

 order is RANUNCULACE^. 



The Order of the Crowfoots (Ranunculaceae) embraces 

 in all about 40 genera and 1000 species. From the fore- 

 going and other examples, we deduce the following brief for- 

 mula of its character: 



1. Plants with a colorless, acrid juice. 



2. Leaves reticulate-veined, never peltate. 



3. Flowers with their members all free and distinct. 



4. Sepals, or petals, 3 15, equal or unequal. 



5. Stamens indefinite, hypogynous. 



6. Pistils few or many, distinct, oblique. 



7. Fruit a few or many achenia, pods, or berries. 



The Crowfoots delight in cool, damp climates. Their 

 juices, generally acrid, are strong enough in some Butter- 



* The genus Anemone is large and interesting. Sixty kinds inhabit the N. Tem- 

 perate Zone in both Continents. In the United States, from Sea to Sea, some 20 

 species flourish. The Pasque Flower, Nuttall's Pulsatilla, in Illinois and the North- 

 west, is the most curious of them all. Its bluish blossoms, as large as a Rose, open in 

 early April; after them the leaves, cut into many slender segments and clothed with 

 long silky hairs, spread themselves, while the ripened achenia, fledged with feathery 

 tails, take flight on the wind to new and distant homes. It derives its name from the 

 fact that it was formerly the custom in England to use this, as well as other wild flow- 

 ers in staining Eggs for Easter-gifts, called Pasque Eggs. 



Many grades and styles of beauty are represented in this genus, from the humble 

 Wood Anemone upward, culminating in the Royal Anemone of Palestine (A. corona- 

 ria), one of the " Lilies of the field " arrayed in more than Solomon's glory. Its leaves 

 are delicately cut and fringed, and its flowers, broad as the hand, shine in Tyrian 

 purple. 



