94 ANEMONE VIRGINIANA. —THIMBLE-WEED. 
they had the power to propitiate the evil spirit ruling the 
Anemone. Hence, the first Anemones of the year were eagerly 
looked for, and were gathered with spell-words and ceremonies, 
and after such propitiations the flower was supposed to be a 
special safeguard against malarious diseases and pestilences. 
However, almost, if not all, that appears in either ancient or 
modern history of the Avemone, refers to some early spring 
flowering kind; while the one we now have before us is rather 
the child of summer, for it commences to bloom in June, and 
continues till August. 
An anonymous poet tells us that, 
“ Thickly strewn in woodland bowers, 
Anemones their Stars unfold.” 
But again, in situation as in blooming time, this does not refer 
to our present species, for it does not bloom in shaded places, 
but along fences and the borders of woods where it can receive 
the protection of some dry leaves for its roots during the winter 
season, and yet have the advantage of the full sunlight for its 
leaves and flowers. To those who admire floral nature, it 
seldom appears as a very remarkable element in the beauty 
of the scene, for it lacks the gay colors which usually attract 
us. Indeed it seems litthe more than an ordinary coarse 
weed, Yet few go out to collect wild flowers in the places where 
this may be found without having it among their trophies, and 
this alone shows that there is something about it worthy of 
thought, if not of admiration. And there is, indeed; for some 
very valuable botanical lessons may be derived from it. 
In many Anemones the leaves on the stems have been so 
altered, that they scarcely look like leaves. In some instances 
they are drawn so close to the flower that, in their altered 
condition, they appear like parts of the inflorescence and are 
regarded as involucres, which may be considered a part of the 
floral envelope, a grade lower than a calyx. So much changed 
from true leaves have been the involucres of many of the 
