From Ann Pratt's "Wild Flowers":
How pleasant are the woodlands during April and May, with the gentle waving of the young leaves, the song of joyous birds, and the sweet odours of violets, primroses, and other spring flowers! Then the Blue-bell waves to every breath of wind, and the Celandine glistens like gold, and the delicate Stitchwort bends so low as the wind passes over it, that we can hardly believe it will be left unharmed by the breeze.
But not one of these blossoms is more beautiful than that of our Wood Anemone, the Wind-flower of the older writers, and which is still called by this poetical name in some parts of our country. Whether it was named thus because it grows in the mountainous woods where the wildest winds blow, as well as in the sheltered valley; or whether because its petals are so light and delicate that the wind soon ruffles them, we know not. In many woods it is very plentiful, its light seed being wafted by the spring winds, and its tough roots creeping extensively underneath the surface of the soil.
I returned on Sunday, chilly and windy, to find the blossoms pulled in.
Pratt, Ann. Wild Flowers. London, 1852. 27. Web. Google Book Search. 9 May 2011.
