Photo 1. The blossoms of the broad-leaved anemone on dry meadow in Kostrena (Photo by M. Randić)

Broad-leaved anemone (Anemone hortensis)

When there is a string of warmer days, the broad-leaved anemone (Anemone hortensis), with its distinctive star-shaped pinkish flowers, will blossom on the dry littoral grasslands in the second half of March. On a sunny day, if we look at the flowers at a particular angle relative to the incoming direction of sunlight, they seem to be reflecting some of the rays of light. The broad-leaved anemone is a Mediterranean species and very common on the Kvarner Bay islands. Despite being somewhat rarer on the dry grasslands of the Croatian Littoral, we found and photographed broad-leaved anemones on meadows, not far from the Stara Voda Harbour in Kostrena. Some hunting spiders such as the white crab spider (family Thomisidae) take advantage of the fact that the early flowers of the broad-leaved anemone attract certain species of insects.

M. R.