THE FLORIST 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



THE ANEMONE. 



The genus Anemone contains some of the most lovely and beautiful of 

 flowers. All the species, without exception, are worthy of cultivation, and 

 some of them claim our most earnest attention, yet somehow or other we 

 seldom see even a single type of the family in any garden. Why this 

 should be the case, I am at a loss to divine, considering the ease with which 

 most kinds may be cultivated. One reason, perhaps, is that we are so 

 familiar with the feature, from the abundance of native species which are to 

 be seen as some of our earliest spring flowers in the woods. Would that 

 we could remove such prejudice from the human mind, and introduce more 

 general enthusiasm for our own beautiful floral riches. Why should we 

 despise Nature's embellishments merely because they are indigenous, or 

 found growing in an immediate locality ? Let us examine, then, the loveli- 

 ness of thi3 genus and its allies now, when it is clothed in all its best attire 

 around our very thresholds. Who can, with the feelings of love for flowers, 

 pass neglectfully by while the Wind Flower (Anemone nemorosa), the Rue 

 Anemone (formerly Anemone thalictroicles, now Thalictrum anemonoides), 

 or the Liver Leaf (once Anemone Hepatica, but now Hepatica triloba), 

 dispute our path, or rather form a carpet of Dame Nature's exquisite 

 weaving, traced by the most delicate embroidery of her daughter Flora? 

 Let us see beauty in its pristine splendor, without regard to country — or 

 if there is to be a precedence, then let us feel the most interested in what is 

 our own, when equal in quality. 



The geographical range of this genus is very extensive, although confined 

 to the northern hemisphere ; there are examples in Japan, and others dis- 

 seminated over the continent of Europe, from Portugal even to where the 

 imperious Czar sends the objects of his despotic wrath ; yes, even the 

 inhospitable regions of the dreary Siberia furnish a few species to cheer the 

 desponding, drooping and hopeless spirits of the forlorn exile, and, as if 

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