THE CROWFOOT FAiMlLY. 177 



CAROLINA ANEnONE. {Plate L VI.) 

 Anemone Caroliniana. 



1 



Flmoers : solitary; growing at the ends t)f long, pubescent peduncles. Involu- 

 cre: composed of sessile leaves, three to five clelt and quite lenicjlc from the 

 flower. Sepals: sixteen to twenty, oblong-linear and petal-like, the outer ones 

 mottled with blue and i)urple. Petals: none. Stamens: numerous. Ae/teiies: 

 very woolly. Basal leaves : with slender petioles and thrice divided inio linear, 

 or oblanceolate divisions which are again toothed and cleft. Stem : three to 

 ten inches high, arising from a globose tuber. 



More beautiful even than the wind flower is this e.Nqtiisite anemone ot 

 the south which haunts the cool woods, or springs up by the side of some 

 weather-beaten rock. The delicate mottling of its colours, together with its 

 sprightly form and fine foliage, mark it indeed as one of the gems of the 

 flowery kingdom. According to the soil and climate in which it grows, it 

 has been noticed to vary greatly in height. 

 ^ A. qiditquefblia, wind-flower, or wood anemone, is the elfin-like, little 

 ^ thing which very early in the spring hovers about the trunks of old trees and 

 ■3-' is usually found within nodding distance of the spring beauty and the 

 yellow adder's tongue. Most delicately its petal-like sepals are tinted with 

 pink, or blue and so transcient is the bloom that the slightest gust of wind 

 bears them away. Besides the basal leaves which arise from a thick, hori- 

 zontal rootstock there are three others whorled on the stem just below the 

 :^flo\ver. They are five parted, with segments much cut and lobed. In 

 England there still lurks the belief, transmitted, no doubt, from an old 

 Roman idea, that to gather the first anemones of the year will serve as a 

 preventative of disease. In fact, in European lore the anemone, which, 

 however, is another species than this one, plays quite an important part. 



" All wan and shivering in the leafless glade 

 The sad anemone reclined her head; 

 Grief on her cheek had paled the roseate hue 

 And her sweet eye-lids drooped with pearly dew." 



These lines probably were written in commemoration of \'enus' grief over 

 the slain Adonis. 



A. trifblia, mountain anemone, is very like the wind flower. The leaves 

 of its involucre, however, are divided into three segments instead of five. 

 It is moreover a taller, stouter plant with an air much less fragile. From 

 North Carolina to southern Pennsylvania it occurs, usually in the mountains 

 where its companion often is the sweet lily-of-the-valley. 



