158 WHAT'S IN A NAME. 



its graceful leaves and snow-white buds to the stray sunbeams 

 that force their way through the embowering branches of 

 stately elms and spreading beeches, and in April it has 

 attained its full glory, contributing largely to the beauty 

 and the show which then embellish the forest glade. Snow- 

 white, and faint rose-red, and soft delicate lilac, these are 

 the prevailing hues of its tender petals. 



It is said that the wood anemone never blossoms earlier 

 than March 16, and never later than April 2. It opens out 

 its loveliness to the sun about the same time as the swallow 

 returns from the genial South to our land of pleasant verdure. 

 Country children associate it with the appearance of the 

 cuckoo, and call it the " cuckoo flower," but the " wander- 

 ing voice " is later than the woodland blossom in its welcome 

 to the spring. 



Why is it called Anemone ? Of course, the English name 

 is derived from the Greek avspog, "wind;" but what con- 

 nexion is there between the wind and the flower ? Credulous 

 old Pliny asserted that it never bloomed except when* the 

 wind blew. Some of our botanical writers explain that it 

 shivers and bends before the winds of March and the breezes 

 of April. Others remind us that though generally found in 

 the shelter of the groves, it will thrive lustily in windy and 

 exposed localities. But I suspect the true reason of the 

 name is its peculiar sensitiveness to atmospheric changes. 

 As a foreteller of the storm it is not less trustworthy than a 

 barometer, never failing to fold up its exquisite petals when 

 the winds are gathering over the distant hills. 



