Consider-the-Lilies Web Gallery
Rue Anemone
Rue Anemone is one of the first of the early bloomers to make its appearance in the Shenandoah Valley.
These images were taken the same day in early April that I found a meadow covered with Early Yellowrocket—one gracing the open sunny fields, the other this secluded, shady hill.
The
Anemonella prefix in its botanical name is said to derive from the resemblance of this
"small anemone" to the Anemone or Windflower, many varieties of which
are cultivated in gardens. On the left
are some
Anemone
"Honorine Jobert" growing in my wife's garden
in
autumn, and on the right, its namesake. They do look something alike, don't you
think?
TheThalictroides suffix refers to the resemblance of its foliage to that of Meadow Rue (Thalictrum); i.e. Thalictroides or like Thalictrum. This is also reflected in the alternative botanical name, Thalictrum thalictroides.
The similarity of the flower to those of Tall Anemone or Thimbleweed has led other botanists to place this plant, which is a low grower, in the genus Anemonella or little Anemone.
I'm using this name, simply because it is more descriptive.
This subtle beauty carpeted this shady hillside for just a very few days. As Jesus tells us, these lilies of the field, even though graced by the Creator with a splendor exceeding that of a king, must give way in a short while to the advancing season.
One by one, the spent petals will drop to the ground, and the bare stems of Rue Anemone will be soon be covered by grasses and other succeeding lilies of the season.
By early June, we could not tell that the blossoms of the beautiful "small windflower" ever graced this shady slope.
...which to day is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you...?
Any thoughts, pro or con? Why not drop me an anonymous note at the Comments page?
OR
Go back to the Main Directory to consider more lilies of the field.
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