looduskalender.ee

Water scorpion  (Nepa cinerea) and wood anemones

 

 

Wood anemones grow well on moderately fresh soil and are tolerant of shade; good habitats are broad-leaf forests, wooded meadows and coppices.

 

The stem is bare or slightly hairy. On the ground we generally see one basal leaf with a long stalk. Bracts are up to 3 – sometimes they come into a flower-picker’s hand.

 

The petals (more exactly, tepals) of the white flower can be 6 up to 8; they surround the stamens and the pistils (gynoecia). The wood anemone lacks proper petals. The diameter of the flower can be up to 4 centimetres; to bees and other insects the wood anemones offer pollen.

 

If a flower-picker has a piece of tissue in the pocket it can be dipped in water and swept around the stems of the picked wind anemones. The flowers will not wilt so fast in a vase then. It also keeps hands from contact with the sap of the wind anemones which can cause a rash and even blisters on a sensitive skin.

 

Wood anemone flower