FIELD OBSERVATIONS ON THE SO-CALLED 

 "ANEMONE" {Pulsatilla hirsutissimay 



By Francis Ramaley and Miss Marie Gill 



The so-called ''Anemone" of the Rocky Mountains is the "pasque 

 flower" or the "crocus" of Wisconsin and Minnesota. In Colorado, 

 it is abundant in the foothill and montane regions, occasionally extend- 

 ing up to the limit of trees on the mountains. 



The flowers come into blossom before the leaves appear (Fig. i). 

 They are distinctly proterogynous. There are usually six petaloid 

 sepals, commonly of a purplish color. Petals are absent. The 

 sepals average about 3 . 5 cm. in length and i . 9 cm. in width. Soft 

 hairs are present in abundance on the outer surface, but there are 

 none inside. The stamens are very numerous, the outer ones shorter 

 than the inner, the variation between the longest and shortest being 

 4 to 10 mm. The carpels are numerous, about 8.5 mm. in length, 

 and are densely hairy toward the base. 



The stamens of the outer row, about 25 to 30, are aborted and 

 serve as nectar glands (Fig. 2). Anthers in these are of about the 

 usual size, with the filaments extremely minute. In some flowers 

 the transition between the taller stamens and the nectar glands is 

 very gradual. In others, there are no stamens of intermediate 

 size. 



Variation 



A number of variations were noted in the floral structure of the 

 plants examined. About 500 specimens were collected from various 

 stations in the vicinity of Boulder, Colorado, and carefully studied. 



The sepals varied to a certain extent in number, color and size. 

 There are usually six, but two flowers were found with four sepals, 

 two with five, twelve with seven, and nine with nine. The usual 

 color is hght purple. One plant was found having pink flowers 



» Publication of the Colorado Biological Survey, No. 5. 



