Anemone pulsatilla is found not in woods, but in open situations. It grows
wild in the dry soils of almost every Central and Northern country of Europe,
but in England is rather a local plant, abounding on high chalk downs and
limestone pastures, mostly in Yorkshire, Berkshire, Oxford and Suffolk, but
seldom found in other situations and other districts in this country. It has a
thick and somewhat woody root-stock, from which arises a rosette of finely-
divided, stalked leaves, covered with silky hairs, especially when young, the
foot-stalk often being purplish. The flowers, which are about 1 1/2 inches
across, are borne singly on stalks 5 to 8 inches in height, with an involucre
of three sessile (i.e stalkless) deeply-cut leaflets or bracts. The sepals are
of a dull violet-purple colour, very silky on the under surfaces. The seed-
vessels are small, brown hairy achenes, with long, feathery tails, like those
of the Traveller's Joy or Wild Clematis. |