94 ANEMONE VIRGINIANA. TIIIMBLE-WEED. 



they had the power to propitiate the evil spirit ruHng the 

 Anemone. Hence, the first Anemones of the year were eagerly 

 looked for, and were gathered with spell-words and ceremonies, 

 and after such propitiations the flower was supposed to be a 

 special safeguard against malarious diseases and pestilences. 



However, almost, if not all, that appears in either ancient or 

 modern history of the Anemone, refers to some early spring 

 flowering kind ; while the one we now have before us is rather 

 the child of summer, for it commences to bloom in June, and 

 continues till August. 



An anonymous poet tells us that, 



" Thickly strewn in woodland bowers, 

 Anemones their Stars unfold." 



But again, in situation as in blooming time, this does not refer 

 to our present species, for it does not bloom in shaded places, 

 but along fences and the borders of woods where it can receive 

 the protection of some dry leaves for its roots during the winter 

 season, and yet have the advantage of the full sunlight for its 

 leaves and flowers. To those who admire floral nature, it 

 seldom appears as a very remarkable element in the beauty 

 of the scene, for it lacks the gay colors which usually attract 

 us. Indeed it seems litde more than an ordinary coarse 

 weed. Yet few go out to collect wild flowers in the places where 

 this may be found without having it among their trophies, and 

 this alone shows that there is something about it worthy of 

 thought, if not of admiration. And there is, indeed ; for some 

 very valuable botanical lessons may be derived from it. 



In many Anemones the leaves on the stems have been so 

 altered, that they scarcely look like leaves. In some instances 

 they are drawn so close to the flower that, in their altered 

 condition, they appear like parts of the inflorescence and are 

 regarded as involucres, which may be considered a part of the 

 floral envelope, a grade lower than a calyx. So much changed 

 from true leaves have been the involucres of man)' of the 



