MEADOW RUES 
Description of Fig. 1, G. patens aurdiana, a single form with eight 
Plate 1 . sepals. Fig. 2, a double form, G. patens sophia. The 
figure to the left of the Plate is a stamen, the upper portion being the 
anther which contains the pollen or fertilising meaL 
MEADOW RUES 
Natural Order Ranunculace^e. Genus Thalictrum 
Thalictrum (the classical name), a genus of about fifty species, widely 
distributed in the temperate and colder regions of the Northern 
Hemisphere; three species being British. They are perennial herbs 
distinguished by their graceful much-divided ( compound ) leaves, with 
stipules, the absence of petals, and the great development of the stamens 
in proportion to. the size of the four or five sepals. The carpels each 
contain a single ovule, and develop into a miniature nut, called an 
achene ; a number of these gathered into a head constitute the fruit. The 
flower-cluster is a panicle or raceme. It is to the great number and 
large size of the stamens that the feathery appearance of the flower- 
cluster is due in certain species. As the pollen is shed it is borne by the 
wind to the stigmas of other flowers, and this method of fertilisation 
explains why the sepals are not showy, and why the flower produces no 
honey. The stigmas come to maturity before the anthers shed their 
pollen, so that self-fertilisation is not likely to occur. 
History Thalictrums have been cultivated in gardens for 
nearly two centuries, T. comuti being apparently the first 
foreign species to be introduced; T. aquilegifolium, the best known of 
the cultivated kinds, was introduced from the Continent in 1731. 
Owing to the smallness of the flowers, the species are esteemed chiefly 
on account of their light and elegant, much-divided foliage, in which 
respect some of them rival maidenhair fema 
species and The most popular of the species in gardens to-day are 
varieties, rp a q U n e gif 0 n um) p_ alpi/num , T. anemonoides, T. Delavayi, 
T. flavum, T. tuberosum, and T. minus. 
Thalictrum alpinum (Alpine Meadow Rue) is a native, not more 
than a foot high, with unbranched wiry stem, and a few purplish flowers, 
at first drooping, erect later; July and August. Leaflets almost round, 
bluntly lobed. Often increases by means of runners. Wild in northern 
mountain bogs. 
T. ANEMONOIDES (Anemone-like). Rue Anemone. A native of 
