31 
THE PROPERTIES OP THE ANEMONE. 
they will be good enough to send us a pinch. 
We regarded those seedlings as a race from 
which double flowers might be one day pro- 
duced. As it is, there are two classes of flowers, 
the single, with a seed vessel and anthers ; 
and what we shall call the single, with a centre 
of florets, falsely called double ; there is a third 
class, which are properly called semi-double, 
on account of their having two, three, or four 
rows of petals. And, as every thing must 
have a beginning, and " a thing well begun, is 
more than half done," we will give the pro- 
perties of each, that those who buy or raise 
seedlings may have some guide to enable them 
to select the best varieties. 
THE SINGLE ANEMONE. 
The petals should be broad and thick, 
smooth at the edges, slightly cupped, forming 
no indentation where they lap over or join. 
The flower should therefore be a very shallow 
round saucer ; the colour bright and distinct, 
the anthers and seed vessel small ; the flower 
large ; the stem stiff and elastic, and no matter 
of what length, because, if they bloomed close 
to the foliage, the flower would be as handsome 
as if it were a foot from the ground. 
THE (SO CALLED) DOUBLE ANEMONE, ft 
The petals should be flat, but not reflexed, 
and one half of the shallow cup or saucer 
which it forms, should be occupied by coloured 
florets of the form of half a globe, all pointing 
to the edge of the flower, and away from the 
centre. They should differ in colour from the 
petals, and the more they are contrasted, the 
better they are. We have said nothing about 
the choice of colours in either of these classes 
of flowers, because it depends on taste; but 
whatever colours they are, they should be 
dense and decided; as if the petals were formed 
of coloured matter •throughout, and not merely 
stained on the surface. 
THE TRUE DOUBLE ANEMONE. 
There should be as many rows of petals 
as would form a good double flower, displaying 
some of the inside surface of every row, and 
the inner row should cover in the seed vessel 
in the centre. The petals should be thick, 
broad, free from notch or serrature, and in 
all respects like those described first. They 
should all imbricate, that is, the second row 
of petals should exactly cover the divisions 
of the first, and the third should cover the 
divisions of the second, and so on. The 
flowers should be two inches across when 
expanded, and rise well up in the centre. 
The sporting of the anemone into two kinds 
of flowers has been the subject of much specu- 
lation. The dahlia gives occasionally flowers 
after the like fashion, that is, one row of petals 
forming a sort of disk, and a centre filled with 
florets. At one time this style of flower used 
to be cultivated and esteemed, but after the 
publication of Glenny's Properties of the Dahlia, 
which condemned them, they are no longer 
grown, and it has been said that Messrs. 
Young, of Epsom, lost a hundred pounds, which 
they had expended on such varieties just. be- 
fore the condemnation appeared. The only 
double kinds ever grown were made up of 
petals. 
The Camellia Japonica sports, like the ane- 
mone. Double flowers of two kinds may be 
found of several colours. Altheaflora has a 
single row of petals, and a centre formed of 
florets, and there are many that partake more 
or less of the character, while others come 
exceedingly double that are formed of petals 
only. 
The Hollyhock is sportive, in some measure 
like the anemone, throwing flowers with one 
row of petals, forming a dish, and florets 
of all shapes,, forming a confused heap in the 
centre. The hollyhoek is, however, unlike 
the dahlia, anemone, and camellia in one parti- 
cular ; there are no double ones formed of 
distinct rows of petals, and the fructification 
differs widely from all, for that is like the 
mallow. 
Anemones depend greatly on the care be- 
stowed while they are out of ground. No 
root is more apt to damage by damp, and on 
the slightest appearance of mouldiness or mil- 
dew, they ought to be brushed, dried, and 
placed in very dry sand. They ought also to 
be kept in a very dry place. 
The seed of anemone are, up to a given 
period, pretty safe on the stem; they burst, how- 
ever, like cotton, and when one gets away, the 
wind will clear the whole pod in a few minutes. 
They require constant watching, in order to 
secure the whole quantity of seed. 
Anemone tubers are variously sold ; they 
used to be purchased by weight only, but 
of late, the foreign seed warehouses send them 
over by name, and count the tubers. This, 
however, leads to the breaking up of the tubers 
into pieces too small to bloom well. We ob- 
serve nearly all the seed shops sell named vari- 
eties at per dozen, or hundred, instead of per 
pound. 
It has been erroneously stated, that one of 
the fine double varieties, neglected for a time, 
will go back to a single flower, and it has been 
inferred from this, or rather ithas been asserted 
by the same writer, that the single becomes 
double by cultivation only, and that by neglect 
it will go back again ; this is not the fact, a 
plant may be starved so much that the plant 
will not half develope its bloom — it may come 
with scarcely any centre ; but a double one 
will never become like a single one. 
