Wild Flowers East of the Rockies 125 



WOOD ANEMONE; WIND FLOWER (Anemone 

 quinquefolia) is an exceedingly delicate looking 

 plant, but the fortitude with which it withstands the 

 winds of early April rather belies its appearance. 

 Swayed this way and that, with a violence that threat- 

 ens to demolish it, it safely weathers the most se- 

 vere storms and, with the appearance of the sun, 

 its nodding head beckons a welcome to the early 

 bees. Very appropriate indeed is its common name 

 of "Wind Flower." 



The stem is slender and 4 to 8 in. high. Three 

 leaves radiate from a point about two thirds up; each 

 on a long stem and divided into three to five, tooth- 

 ed, ovate leaflets. The solitary flower rises on a 

 slender peduncle from the junction of these three 

 leaves with the stem proper. It has four to seven 

 sepals, most often five; white inside and purplish 

 white on their outer surface; numerous yellow and 

 brown-tipped stamens radiate from the base of the 

 greenish pistils; the flower has an expanse of slight- 

 ly less than one inch, but is rarely seen fully expand- 

 ed. The very smooth slender stalk grows from an 

 elongated, horizontal rootstalk. The Wind Flower is 

 common in woods or thickets from Nova Scotia to 

 the Rockies and southwards. 



RUE ANEMONE (Anemonella thalictroides) is 

 even more slender in form than the Wind Flower. 

 From four to nine sepals, (usually six), numerous 

 orange-tipped stamens and a broad stigma make up 

 the flower; there are several of them on exceedingly 

 slender peduncles, rising from the whorl of leaves. 

 The latter are on slender stems, have heart-shaped 

 bases and three-lobed ends; rather small, pale green 

 above and with a whitish bloom below. Its root is 

 a cluster of tuberous rootlets. It is found in the 

 same localities and the same range as the last spe- 

 cies, with which it associates. 



