RANUNCULACEAE 



CROWFOOT FAMILY 



RUE ANEMONE 



Ancmonclla thalictroides (L.) Spach 



Rue Anemone gets its name by having flowers like an Ane- 

 mone and leaves like the Meadow Rue. It is a common perennial 

 in woods throughout eastern United States as far west as Kansas 

 and Minnesota, blooming 

 from March to June. The 

 roots of this plant are clus- 

 tered and resemble minute 

 Sweet Potatoes. 



In early spring the 

 flowering stem arises 4-9 

 inches high, usually with 

 no leaves except those of the 

 involucre. The latter has 

 2 or 3 sessile leaves, each 

 with 3 trilobed leaflets on 

 long slender petiolules; this 

 gives the effect of a whorl 

 of 6, or as shown, 9 simple 

 leaves. 



There are generally 

 flowers, of which the 

 middle one blooms 

 first. There is no 

 corolla but the calyx 

 consists of 5-10 sepals, 

 white or sometimes 

 pinkish and quite con- 

 spicuous. Stamens 

 are numerous and 

 there are 4-1 c, pistils 



whose ovaries develop into deeply grooved, pointed akenes up 

 to one-half inch long and sessile. In rare instances the sepals, 

 stamens or involucre are variously modified. 



The basal leaves are long petioled and twice compound as 

 shown, and appear after the flowers. 



The False Rue Anemone, page 108, closely resembles this plant, 

 and differences between them should be carefully noted. 



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