Wood Anemone; Wind Flower (Anemone Quinquefolia)

Wood Anemone; Wind Flower (Anemone Quinquefolia) is an exceedingly delicate looking plant, but the fortitude with which it withstands the winds of early April rather belies its appearance. Swayed this way and that, with a violence that threatens to demolish it, it safely weathers the most severe storms and, with the appearance of the sun, its nodding head beckons a welcome to the early bees. Very appropriate indeed is its common name of "Wind Flower."

The stem is slender and 4 to 8 in. high. Three leaves radiate from a point about two thirds up; each on a long stem and divided into three to five, toothed, ovate leaflets. The solitary flower rises on a slender peduncle from the junction of these three leaves with the stem proper. It has four to seven sepals, most often five; white inside and purplish white on their outer surface; numerous yellow and brown-tipped stamens radiate from the base of the greenish pistils; the flower has an expanse of slightly less than one inch, but is rarely seen fully expanded. The very smooth slender stalk grows from an elongated, horizontal rootstalk. The Wind Flower is common in woods or thickets from Nova Scotia to the Rockies and southwards.

Rue Anemone (Anemonella Thalictroides)

Rue Anemone (Anemonella Thalictroides) is even more slender in form than the Wind Flower. From four to nine sepals, (usually six), numerous orange-tipped stamens and a broad stigma make up the flower; there are several of them on exceedingly slender peduncles, rising from the whorl of leaves. The latter are on slender stems, have heart-shaped bases and three-lobed ends; rather small, pale green above and with a whitish bloom below. Its root is a cluster of tuberous rootlets. It is found in the same localities and the same range as the last species, with which it associates.

A. Purple Virgin's Bower.

Clematis verticillaris.

B. Virgin's Bower; Clematis.

Clematis virginiana.

Purple Virgins Bower (Clematis Verticillaris)

Purple Virgins Bower (Clematis Verticillaris) is probably the most rare species of Clematis. It grows in rocky hilly or mountainous woods, most abundantly in northern portions of its range, which is from Quebec to Hudson Bay and south locally to Del. and Pa. It is a climbing woody vine, supporting itself by the bending or clasping of the leaf stalks. The flowers grow singly, on long stems from the axils of the leaves or from the end of the vine. They are large and handsome, the four thin, purple, pointed, translucent sepals spreading from two to four inches when fully expanded. Both sides of the sepals are covered with silky hairs or down along the edges. The sepals are usually much concaved, forming a cup-shaped flower; the petals are very small, spatulate shaped; numerous greenish-white stamens are clustered in the center of the flower. The leaves are divided into three leaflets, ovate, pointed, with a heart-shaped base.