ANEMONE SYLVE STMS. — SNOWDROP ANEMONE. 
Class XIII. POLYANDRIA.— Order III. POLYGYNIA. 
Natural Order, R A N U N C U L AC EJE . THE CROW-FOOT TRIBE. 
The Anemones are natives of the East, from whence their roots were originally brought ; but they have 
been so much improved by culture, as to take a high rank among the ornaments of our gardens in the spring. 
As they do not blow the first year, it will be more convenient to purchase the plants from a nursery than to 
rear them at home ; on another account also it will be better, for they vary so much that it is impossible to 
secure the handsomest kinds by the seed ; and when in flower they may be selected according to the taste 
i of the purchaser. They should be sheltered from frost and heavy rains, light showers will refresh them, and 
in dry weather they should be watered every evening, but very gently. When the roots are once obtained, 
j they may be increased by parting. 
Parkinson very accurately notices the striking characters of Anemone Sylvestris, which are its 
I creeping roots, its large white flowers standing on the tops of the flower-stalks, which sometimes grow two 
j together, but most commonly singly ; the leaves on the stalk, he observes, are more finely divided than those 
i of the root, and its seeds are woolly. 
Miller describes it as having little beauty, and therefore but seldom planted in gardens ; it is true, it 
1 does not recommend itself by the gaudiness of its colours, but there is in the flowers, especially before they 
: expand, a simple elegance somewhat like that of the Snowdrop, and which affords a pleasing contrast to the 
| more shewy flowers of the garden. 
It flowers in May and ripens its seeds in June. It will grow in almost any soil or situation, is propa- 
| gated by offsets from the root, which it puts out most plentifully, so as indeed sometimes to be troublesome. 
; Is a native of Germany. 
*“The Narrow-leaved Garden Anemone grows wild in the Levant. In the islands of the Archipelago the 
I borders of the fields are covered with it in almost every variety of colour ; but these are single, culture has 
J made them double. 
“ Of the double varieties of this species there are nearly two hundred. To be a fine one, a double 
I Anemone should have a strong upright stem, about nine inches high ; the flower should be from two to 
! three inches in diameter : the outer petals should be firm, horizontal, unless they turn up a little at the end, 
and the smaller petals within these should lie gracefully one over the other. The plain colours should be 
i brilliant, the variegated clear and distinct. 
“ The Broad-leaved Garden Anemone is found wild with single flowers in Germany, Italy, and Provence ; 
the single varieties are sometimes called Star-Anemones : they are very numerous, as are also the double 
varieties, of which the most remarkable are the great double Anemone of Constantinople, or Spanish mary- 
! gold, the great double Orange-tawney, the double Anemone of Cyprus, and the double Persian Anemone. 
“ There is a species called the Wood- Anemone, which grows in the woods and hedges in most parts of 
Europe. In March, April, and May, many of our woods are almost covered with these flowers, which ex- 
| pand in clear weather, and look towards the sun, but in the evening and in wet weather, close and droop 
! their heads. When the Wood- Anemone becomes double, it is cultivated by the gardeners, and were the 
same pains taken with this as with the foreign Anemones, it would probably become valuable. 
“ Anemone roots may be planted towards the end of September, and again a month later, some plant a 
I third set about Christmas. The first planted will begin to flower early in April, and continue for three or 
four weeks, the others will follow in succession. As soon as the leaves decay, which of those first planted 
I will be in June, the roots should be taken up, the decayed parts and the earth cleared away, and, having 
| been dried in the shade, they should be put in some secure place where they may be perfectly dry, and par- 
I ticularly where mice, &c. cannot find access to them. This opportunity may be taken to part the roots for 
increase, and provided each part has a good eye or bud, it will grow and flower, but they will not flower so 
strong if parted small. The roots will be weakened if suffered to remain long in the earth after the leaves 
decay. They will keep out of the earth for two or even three years, and grow when planted. The single, 
or Poppy Anemone, will in mild seasons, blow throughout the winter. 
“ Earth proper for the Anemone maybe procured from a nursery, the roots may be planted in pots five 
inches wide, the earth an inch and a half deep over the top of the roots, and the eye of the root upwards. 
They must be kept moderately moist, shaded from the noon-day sun, and exposed to that of the morning. 
In the winter they should be placed under shelter, but should have plenty of fresh air when not frosty.” 
The Abbe la Pluche relates a curious anecdote of M. Bachelier, a Parisian florist, who, having imported 
some very beautiful species of the Anemone from the East Indies to Paris, kept them to himself in so mi- 
serly a manner, that for ten successive years he never would give to any friend or relation whomsoever the 
least fibre of a double Anemone, or the root of one single one. A counsellor of the parliament, vexed to see 
one man hoard up for himself a benefit which nature intended to be common to all, paid him a visit at his 
country house, and in walking round the garden, when he came to a bed of his Anemones, which were at 
that time in seed, artfully let his robe fall upon them ; by which device he swept off a considerable number 
of the little grains, which stuck fast to it. His servant, whom he had purposely instructed, dexterously 
wrapped them up in a moment without exciting any attention. The counsellor a short time after commu- 
nicated to his friends the success of his project, and by their participation of his innocent theft the flower 
became generally known. 
* Flora Domestica. 
