Poppy anemone

Appearance

"Anemone coronaria" is a herbaceous perennial tuberous plant growing to 20–40 cm tall, rarely to 60 cm, spreading to 15–23 cm, with a basal rosette of a few leaves, the leaves with three leaflets, each leaflet deeply lobed. The flowers which bloom from April to June are borne singly on a tall stem with a whorl of small leaves just below the flower; the flower is 3–8 cm diameter, with 5–8 red showy petal-like tepals and a black centre. The pollen is dry, has an unsculpted exine, is less than 40 nm in diameter, and is usually deposited within 1.5 m of its source. This central mound consists of tightly packed pistils in the centre, with a crown-like ring of stamens surrounding this, which gives the species its name. The flowers produce 200–300 seeds. The plants form hard black tubers as storage organs.

Aside from its flowers resembling poppies, the red single wild form flowers resemble the flowers of the red single wild form of "Ranunculus asiaticus".

Naming

"Anemone coronaria" means crown anemone, referring to the central crown of the flower, evoking regal associations. The Arabic name is "shaqa'iq An-Nu'man" translated literally as the wounds, or "pieces", of Nu'man. One possible source of the name traces back to the Sumerian god of food and vegetation, Tammuz, whose Phoenician epithet was "Nea'man". Tammuz is generally considered to have been drawn into the Greek pantheon as Adonis, who died of his wounds while hunting wild boar. The deity is transformed into a flower, stained by the blood of Adonis. Tammuz's Phoenician epithet "Nea'man" is believed to be both the source of "an-Nu'man" in Arabic which came through Syriac, and of "anemone" which came through Greek. Another possible source of the name is An-Nu'man III Bin Al-Munthir, the last Lakhmid king of Al-Hirah and a Christian Arab. An-Nu'man is known to have protected the flowers during his reign. According to myth, the flower thrived on An-Nu'man's grave, paralleling the death and rebirth of Adonis.

In Hebrew, the anemone is "kalanit metzuya". "Kalanit" comes from the Hebrew word "kala כלה" which means "bride", "metzuya" means "common." The kalanit earned its name because of its beauty and majesty, evoking a bride on her wedding day. In 2013 "Anemone coronaria" was elected as the national flower of the State of Israel, in a poll arranged by the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel and Ynet. Each year in Israel there is a month-long festival to celebrate the blooming of the red anemones. During the British Mandate for Palestine, British paratroopers were nicknamed "kalaniyot" for their red berets.

Distribution

Eastern Mediterranean littoral, from Greece, Albania, southern Turkey and Syria to Israel with sporadic extension east to northern Iraq and west along the Mediterranean shores of Italy, southern France and North Africa. "Anemone coronaria" grows wild all over the regions of Syria and Palestine.

Habitat

Eastern Mediterranean littoral, from Greece, Albania, southern Turkey and Syria to Israel with sporadic extension east to northern Iraq and west along the Mediterranean shores of Italy, southern France and North Africa. "Anemone coronaria" grows wild all over the regions of Syria and Palestine.In the wild, "A. coronaria" is winter flowering and cross pollinated by bees, flies and beetles, which can carry pollen over long distances.