Israel wildflowers: Turban Buttercup

Ranunculus, rana, “frog”, Ranunculus, “little frog”, literally froglike (from marshy places).

asiaticus, Asian.
The Hebrew name: נורית, nurit, from Aramaic: נוריתא, nurita; נור, nur: to give light, to shine; to burn; Aramaic: נורא ,נור (=fire).

• The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.

H.B.Tristram says: “Almost a rival of the Anemone in brilliancy, though less common and smaller, is the Ranunculus asiaticus.” The scarlet crowfoot usually blooms after the anemone. It has thick srorage roots, side by side with fibrous absorption roots. The food reserves are removed each year to build up arial shoots, which, in their turn, produce new roots.

The “Red Anemone Guild Flowers” comprises some of the species from six plant genera (Anemone, Tulipa, Ranunculus, Adonis, Glacium and Papaver) that belong to three phylogenetically distant families (Ranunculaceae, Liliaceae and Papaveraceae).

Flowersof this guild are characterized by large, red bowl-shaped petals that surround a large black mass containing the anthers and the female reproductive organs. The flowers are insect-pollinated, and offer only pollen as food reward to visitors. The uniqueness of the red anemone guild species is due to the rarity of large red floral displays among the congeners of the guild members, as well as in the Mediterranean flora (Shmida 1981; Dafni & Shmida 1989).

The pollination of the “Red Anemone Guild” is by Glaphyrid beetles (Scarabaeoidea)

Three Sisters, an Israeli Fairy tale

Once upon a time, in a far country, there lived a handsome prince. After years of dissipation and tumultuous bachelorhood the prince decided to take a woman in his life, and announced that he would give an evening of “Speed Dating”, free and open to the female audience.

Hundreds of women decided to try their luck, including the Three Sisters: Anemone, Scarlet Crowfoot and Poppy.

On the appointed day the sisters (like most invited) stormed the nearby mall to get the most up to date garment and the most impressive accessories. The mall was full of women pushing and shopping to get an outfit. Within minutes the sisters had lost each other and only met again when they returned to their homes, each with the result of her shopping frenzy, all with the same red dress. Trouble!? How could the Prince distinguish between the three? After the tears, the blood returned to their faces, and they found a solution: each of them would add a rather unique accessory to her red dress.

Anemone added a white scarf she brought from her travels in India.

Scarlet Crowfoot (Ranunculus), the trendy, added a green belt, decorated her dress with glitters and put on glossy lipstick.
Poppy wore a black beaded necklace around her neck. With the upgraded performance they entered the hall and seized the prince’s heart within minutes. He spent an entire day with every one of them, and after three days he admitted he could not reach a decision. The three sisters were also captured by the prince’s charms, and each wanted him for herself. Wow, and another solution was found: the Prince would marry the three of them, on condition that once a year, every year, he will dedicate a period of time with each one separately. The Prince in love quickly agreed, and only asked the sisters to continue to wear their special accessories to avoid unnecessary confusion and shame. For the same reason he also decided to open a log book and to set dates for each sister, in alphabetical order – Anemone, Scarlet Buttercup, Poppy. Since then, every year, Anemone is the first to bloom, with a white scarf around the stamens, Scarlet crowfoot with the bright shiny leaves and the typically green sepals enclosing the petals in the form of a belt, is the second to appear and Poppy finishes the cycle, with dark circles on the petals. So now you can distinguish the difference between an anemone and poppy.

_{Location: Gilboa – Mt. Barkan}