anemone

Anemone
Japanese Anenome (Anemone hupehensis var. japonica)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Ranunculales Family: Ranunculaceae Genus: Anemone L.
Type species
Anemone coronaria L.
Species
See text.
Synonyms
Anemoclema (Franch.) W. T. Wang Anemonastrum Holub Anemonidium (Spach) Holub Anetilla Galushko Arsenjevia Starod. Eriocapitella Nakai Jurtsevia Á. Löve & D. Löve Probable synonyms: Barneoudia Gay Hepatica Mill. Knowltonia Salisb. Miyakea Miyabe & Tatew. Oreithales Schltdl. Pulsatilla Mill. Sources: GRIN,[1] ING,[2] FNA[3]

Anemone (pronounced /əˈnɛməniː/, from Greek Άνεμος 'wind'), is a genus of about 120 species of flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae in the north and south temperate zones. They are closely related to Pasque flowers (Pulsatilla) and Hepaticas (Hepatica); some botanists include both of these genera within Anemone.

Description

Classic Anemone coronaria

Anemone blanda Blue Shades

Anemone are perennial herbs, plants that grow from rhizomes, caudices, or tubers. Leaves grow from the base and can be simple, compound, or attached with a leaf stalk. Terminal inflorescences with two-to-nine-flowered cymes or umbels, or solitary flowers that depending on the species can be up to 60 centimeters tall. The flowers are bisexual and radially symmetric. The sepals are not persistent in fruit, and can be white, purple, blue, green, yellow, pink, or red. Fruits are achenes.^[3]

Species list

There are approximately 150 species^[3], including:

Anemone narcissiflora

Cultivation

Anemone sylvestris

Many of the species are favourite garden plants; among the best known is Anemone coronaria, often called the poppy anemone, a tuberous-rooted plant, with parsleylike divided leaves, and large showy poppylike blossoms on stalks of from 15–20 cm high; the flowers are of various colours, but the principal are scarlet, crimson, blue, purple, and white. There are also double-flowered varieties, in which the stamens in the centre are replaced by a tuft of narrow petals. It is an old garden favourite, and of the double forms there are named varieties.^{[citation needed]}

They grow best in a loamy soil, enriched with well-rotted manure, which should be dug in below the tubers. These may be planted in October, and for succession in January, the autumn-planted ones being protected by a covering of leaves or short stable litter. They will flower in May and June, and when the leaves have ripened should be taken up into a dry room till planting time. They are easily raised from the seed, and a bed of the single varieties is a valuable addition to a flower-garden, as it affords, in a warm situation, an abundance of handsome and often brilliant spring flowers, almost as early as the snowdrop or crocus. Anemone thrives in partial shade, or in full sun provided they are shielded from the hottest sun in southern areas. A well-drained slightly acid soil, enriched with compost, is ideal.^{[citation needed]}

The genus contains many other spring-flowering plants, of which A. hortensis and A. fulgens have less divided leaves and splendid rosy-purple or scarlet flowers; they require similar treatment. Anemone hupehensis, and its white cultivar 'Honorine Joubert', the latter especially, are amongst the finest of autumn-flowering hardy perennials; they grow well in light soil, and reach 60–100 cm in height, blooming continually for several weeks. A group of dwarf species, represented by the native British A. nemorosa and A. apennina, are amongst the most beautiful of spring flowers for planting in woods and shady places.^{[citation needed]}

Anemone species are sometimes targeted by cutworms, the larvae of noctuid moths such as Angle Shades and Heart and Dart.^{[citation needed]}

History and symbolism

An illustration of an Anemone.

A collage of Anemone coronaria of various colors. Anemone coronaria comes in shades of red, pink, purple, blue, and white, but the commonest colour is red.

The meaning of the anemone flower is "forsaken" and also "a dying hope". The flower Anemone could also be used to signify anticipation.^{[citation needed]}

The Anemone coronaria ("Kalanit" in Hebrew) is one of the best-known and beloved flowers in Israel. During the British Mandate of Palestine, British soldiers were nicknamed "Kalaniyot" for their red berrets.^{[citation needed]}

The anemone is called the wind flower because it was believed that wind is what caused it to bloom.^{[citation needed]}

In Ovid's Metamorphoses (book X), Venus transforms the blood of her dead lover, Adonis, into an Anemone. One implication is that the blood-red petals are symbolic of her lost love because, as the verses conclude, they cling too loosely to the stem and are easily lost in the wind. In some versions of the myth, Venus's tears cause the transformation.^[4]

In the New Testament, Jesus says that even “Solomon in all his glory is not arrayed” as beautifully as an anemone. Although the traditional English translation (King James Version) is usually rendered as “lilies of the field”, the original Greek κρινα (krina) is anemone.^[5]

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

External links

• Media related to Anemone at Wikimedia Commons
• Information related to Anemone from Wikispecies.
• This article incorporates text from the public domain 1913 Webster's Dictionary.
• Anemone L. (TSN 18425). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved on 15 May 2008.
• Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). "PLANTS Profile, Anemone L." (HTML). United States Department of Agriculture. http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=ANEMO. Retrieved on 2008-05-16.