ANEMONE PULSATILLA. PASQUE-FLOWER.
ANEMONE Pulsatilla, scapo involucrato unifloro, pctalis acutis, foliis bi-tripinnatis hirsutis, laciniis linearibus
acutis (seminibus caudatis).
ANEMONE Pulsatilla. Linn. Sp. PI. p. 759■ Huds. Angl. p. 237. With. Bot. Arr. ed. 5. vol. 3. p. 488.
Belli. Cant, p. 208. t. 3. Oed. FI. Dan. t. 153. Roth. Germ. vol. 2, p. 6 1 1 . Willd. Sp. PI.
vol. 2. p. 1274. Smith FI. Brit. p. 580. Engl. Bot. A 51. Lam. Diet. vol. 1. p. 163. Dc-
cand. Fl. Fr. ed. 3. vol. 4 . p. 881. FI. Gall. p. 414. Pers. Syn. PI. p. 96. Ait. Hort. Kew.
ed. 2. vol. 3. p. 337.
ANEMONE pratensis. Sibth. O.r. p. 16§. With. Bot. Arr. ed. 4. vol. 3. p . 488.
ANEMONE tubis caudatis, involucris unifoliis multifidis, foliis linearibus hirsutis, pinnis tri- et quinque-partitis.
Hall. Helv. n. 1146.
PULSATILLA folio crassiore et majore flora. Raii Syn. p. 260.
Böhem. Zwonek kuchynslcy. Dan. Koebilde. Oxeore. Dut. Gemeene Keukenschelle. Fr. OEufs de Pâques.
La Coquelourdc. Passefieur. Germ. Die Osterblume. Die gemeine Küchenschelle. Das Wildmannskraut.
Hung. Kisseb Leamy-Kiikörtsin. Lo Kükörts. It. Slot di Donna. Pol. Sasanka. Port. Span. Pulsatilla.
Russ. Wetreniza. Postrel. Swed. Backsippa. Oxöron. Y.vnor.
Class a nd Ord e r . POLYANDRIA MONOGYNIA.
[Natural Ord e r . RANUNCULACEiE, Jussieu, Decandolle. MULTISILIQUAS, Linn.]
For the Character of the N atural Ord er, see CLEMATIS YITALBA.
Ge n . Cha r. Involucrum calycinum a flore remotum, triphyllum foliolis simplicibus laciniatisve ; Petala quinque ad
novem ; Capsula plures, caüdato-plumosæ, aut mucronatæ.
Ge n . Ch a r. Calycine Involucre remote from the flower, three-leaved, the leaves simple or laciniate ; Petals from five
to nine ; Capsules many, caudate and plumose, or mucronate.
Radix crassa, lignosa, elongata, setosa, fusca, inferne fibris
perpaucis instruct, supeme divisa.
Folia omnia radicalia, numerosa; juniora et nondum expli-
cata tomento albo-sericeo obsita; adulta glabriuscula,
viridia, bi-tripinnata, pinnis angustis, fere setaceis, pin-
nulis plerumque iterum divisis, Omnibus supra canali-
culatis, apieeque acutis, et pïlo terminatis.
Scapus, qui flore jam se aperiente vix duos pollices superat,
fit post anthesin dodrantalis pedalisve, semper erectus,
aphyllus, teres, pilosus, apicem versus irivolucratus, involucre
triphyllo, segmentis multi partitis, laciniis setaceis,
hirsutis, florem calycis instar tegente, sed longe a
seminibus, sCapo jam producto, remoto.
Pe r ia n th ium profunde sex-partitum, segmentis erectis,
ovatis, intus violaceis, glabris, extus pallidioribus valde
sericeis, apicibus pilorum penicillo terminatis, et flore
mox casuri non raro reflexis : tria exteriora, fig. 1. an-
gustiora sunt, paululumque rigidiora, interiora latiora,
M 2-
Stamina numerosa, receptaculo subcolumnari, fig. 6. in-
serta, arete imbricata. Filamenta incurva, petalis duplo
breviora, alba. Antheræ biloculares, oblongæ, flavo-au-
rantiaeæ. Pollen sphericum, fig. 4.
Ovaria numerosa, in globumcongesta,lineari-subulata,erecto-
incurvata, sericea ; Styli lineares, glabri, recurvatd, pur-
purei, persistentes. Stigma incrassatum, fig. 7.
Ee r ica rpium : Capsulæ in capitulum aggregatæ, undique
divergentes, fig . 8. nunquam déhiscentes, oblongo-ovatæ,
numerosoe, pilosæ, stylis elongatis, flexuosis, tortis, plu-
mosis terminât®, et inde caudatæ, jkg. 9-
Semina solitaria, capsulis conformia.
I ntegumentum simplex, membranaceum.
A lbumen album, corneum, semini conforme.
Embryo parvus, ovatus, apicularis. Radicula supera.
Fig. 1. An outer segment of the perianth, fig . 2. An inné
prived of its perianth, fig . 6. Flower with most of the
fig. 8. Head of capsules, fig . 9■ Single capsule, fig . 10.
bryo.— All but fig. 1 . 2. 5. 6. and 8. more or less magnifie
Root thick, woody, elongated, setose, brown, below beset
with a very few fibres, above divided.
Leaves all radical, numerous; the younger and still unfolded
ones covered with a white silky down; the older ones
nearly smooth, green, bhtripinnate, with the pinnaj narrow,
almost setaceous, and the pinnules generally again
divided, all are channelled above, acute a t the apex, and
terminated by a hair.
The Scape,, which at the time o f the first appearing of the
flower scarcely exceeds two inches, becomes after the expansion
of the blossom a span or a foot high, always
erect, leafless, round, hairy, having towards the extremity
a three-leaved involucre, whose segments are
multipartite, with the lacini® setaceous hairy; this involucre
protects the flower like a calyx, but is remote
from the seeds by the lengthening of the scape.
Pe r ia n t h deeply six-cleft, with the segments erect, ovate,
within violet-coloured, smooth, without paler, very silky,
with the apices terminated by a pencil of hairs, and the
flower being about to fade often reflexed: the three exterior
ones, fig . 1. are narrower, rather rigid, the interior
ones broader, fig. 2.
Stamens numerous, inserted upon a somewhat columnar receptacle,
fig. 6. thickly imbricated. The Filaments incurved,
twice as short as the petals, white. Anthers two-
celled, oblong, orange-yellow. Pollen spherical.
Ovaries numerous, collected into a ball, lineari-subulate,
ereetbut a little incurved, silky; Styles linear, smooth, recurved,
purple, persistent. Stigma thickened, fig. 7.
P e r ic a r p : Capsules collected into a head, diverging every
way, fig . 8. never opening, oblongo-ovate, numerous,
hairy, terminated by the lengthened flexuose, twisted,
plumose styles; whence they are caudate, fig . 9.
Seeds solitary, of the same shape as the capsules.
Integument simple, membranaceous.
Albumen white, corneous, of the same form as the seed.
Embryo small, ovate, apicular. Radicle superior,
rone. fig . 3. Anther, fig . 4. Pollen, fig . 5. Flower deanthers
removed to show their receptacle, fig. 7 . Germen.
The same longitudinally dissected, to show the apicular em-
The charming plant here figured is found occasionally, though far from being common, upon chalky downs in various
parts of the kingdom, flowering about the season of Easter, whence it has obtained among us the name of Pasque-Flower*
and m France and Germany the corresponding appellations of Osterblume and Passefieur.
It is in many points closely allied to the A. pratensis, L. for which the Oxfordshire plant was, as is already observer!
below in the note, mistaken. The leaves, indeed, of the two offer no distinctive characteristic ; butin an Austrian specimen
of A.pratoisis, now before me, the involucre is less deeply cut into segments than in A. Pulsatilla, the flower smaller and
more drooping, the colour a deep chocolate-brown, very little inclining to purple, and the extremities of the perianth singularly
obtuse. The characters hitherto given of these species, (C petalis rectis” for our plant, and petalis apice reflexis" for the
A. pratensis, appear to me vague and unsatisfactory; and especially, since it is by no means uncommon, in the fully expanded
flower of the former, to find the apices of the petals reflexed, as represented in our figure.
This is the only species of Anemone found in Britain, belonging to the division with caudate capsules-, a character which'
the older botanists considered sufficient to constitute a generic distinction. The individuals included in it were known to
them by the name of Pulsatilla, "a term derived from the latin verb pulsare ; because, in the words of Ray, “ seminum tre-
muli pappi lævissimo flatur hue atque illuc agitentur, unde et Herba ventif.”
The word Anemone itself has a somewhat similar derivation, originating from avepog, ventus. “ Avsu.uu.ri crjrons uvsux dici-
tur, quod flos tantum vento flante aperiatur, vel potius quod locis apertis et vento obnoxiis florere gestiatj.”
So beautiful a flower could scarcely fail to be noticed by the poets of antiquity, or to be a favourite with them; and we
accordingly find it in mythology connected with the story of Venus and Adonis, and made by Bion to sprint from'the tears
of the goddess, at the same time that the blood of the unfortunate youth gave birth to the more lovely Rose.
The root, Haller observes, is sweet; the leaves and flower very acrid, so that, taken with distilled water, they excite vomiting
; on which account he does not recommend it in diseases of the lungs. Applied to the skin it raises blisters.__The
npwers, according to the same author, yield a green colour, which may b;e used in dyeing, and, as has been already remarked
they are employed in some countries for the purpose of staining the paschal eggs, (OEufs de Pâques), the petals alone affording
a pale and clear, and the entire flower a deep but obscure green.
* 9.r mor® Pr°bably from the circumstance related by the German author Dreves, in his Botanisches BUderluch, of the inhabitants of some Catholic
co.mines, who prepare a dye from the flowers, with which they stain their paschal eggs,
t Ran Hist. P l.y. l.p .0 3 3 . J Id. p .624.