WHITE 



And in the writings of the ancients as well we could find many 

 allusions to the same flower were we justified in believing that 

 the blossom christened the " wind-shaken," by some poet flower- 

 lover of early Greece, was identical with our modern anemone. 



Pliny tells us that the anemone of the classics was so entitled 

 because it opened at the wind's bidding. The Greek tradition 

 claims that it sprang from the passionate tears shed by Venus 

 over the body of the slain Adonis. At one time it was believed 

 that the wind which had passed over a field of anemones was 

 poisoned and that disease followed in its wake. Perhaps because 

 of this superstition the flower was adopted as the emblem of sick- 

 ness by the Persians. Surely our delicate blossom is far removed 

 from any suggestion of disease or unwholesomeness, seeming in- 

 stead to hold the very essence of spring and purity in its quiver- 

 ing cup. 



RUE ANEMONE. 



Anemonella thalictroides. Crowfoot Family. 



Stem. Six to twelve inches high. Leaves. Divided into rounded leaf- 

 lets. Flowers. White or pinkish, clustered. Calyx. Of five to ten petal- 

 like sepals. Corolla. None. Stamens. Numerous. Pistils. Four to 

 fifteen. 



The rue anemone seems to linger especially about the spread- 

 ing roots of old trees. It blossoms with the wood anemone, 

 from which it differs in bearing its flowers in clusters. 



STAR-FLOWER. 



Trientalis Americana. Primrose Family. 



Stem. Smooth, erect. Leaves. Thin, pointed, whorled at the summit 

 of the stem. Floivers. White, delicate, star- shaped. Calyx. Gener- 

 ally seven-parted. Corolla. Generally seven-parted, flat, spreading. Sta- 

 mens. Four or five. Pistil. One. 



Finding this delicate flower in the May woods, one is at once 

 reminded of the anemone. The whole effect of plant, leaf, and 

 snow-white blossom is starry and pointed. The frosted tapering 

 petals distinguish it from the rounded blossoms of the wild straw- 

 berry, near which it often grows. 



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