A Walk in a Fern Bluff Park (24 March 2007)

Page 2

Basket Anemone (Anemone heterophylla)

by Jerry Cates

Still in Veterans Park

After photographing the field madder, I followed the fence line toward the back of Veterans Park, and found the flowers shown below just beyond the large, tree-covered berm.  Looking about the area, many other flowers of the same species could also be seen, in white and violet colors.  This is the basket anemone, a member of the Buttercup Family (Ranunculaceae), a group of flowers known for having at least five, but often many more petals, and numerous stamens. The stamen is the male portion of the flower that bears pollen, in an anther, at the end of a long filament, or stalk. It is common to find both white and deep-blue flowers in close proximity to one another, a genetic character that is characteristic of the anemones as a whole.

The biblical mention of "Lilies-of-the-field" in Mt. 6:28-29 probably refers to the Crown Anemone (Anemone coronaria), also known as the poppy anemone.  That flower, known in Hebrew as kalanit, has broad petals similar to those of the poppy, and appears quite different from the flower we see in Fern Bluff. It is similar, however, insofar as it, too, presents in different colors from the same seed crop.  The color variation for kalanit is wider, and includes pink, purple, scarlet, blue, and white flowers, all found in close proximity on typical rocky Mediterranean hillsides.

A side view of a blue Anemone heterophylla shows why it is called a "basket anemone"

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Archives of previous walks in the park: 12 May 2007,  05 May 2007; 28 April 2007, 21 April 2007, 14 April 2007,  1 April 2007 Easter Egg Hunt; 24 March 2007,  17 March 2007; Nov. 03, 2001; April 04, 2001; March 25, 15, 10-11, 04, 2001; February 24,  18, 10, 2001

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