Anemonoides nemorosa (syn.Anemone nemorosa), thewood anemone, is an early-springflowering plant in thebuttercup familyRanunculaceae, native toEurope.[1] Other common names includewindflower,European thimbleweed,[2] andsmell fox, an allusion to the musky smell of the leaves.[3] It is aperennialherbaceous plant growing 5–15 cm (2–6 in) tall.
Anemonoides nemorosa | |
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Scientific classification![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Order: | Ranunculales |
Family: | Ranunculaceae |
Genus: | Anemonoides |
Species: | A. nemorosa |
Binomial name | |
Anemonoides nemorosa (L.) Holub | |
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Synonyms[1] | |
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Description
editAnemonoides nemorosa is arhizomatousherbaceous perennial plant less than 30 centimetres (12 in) in height. The compound basal leaves are palmate or ternate (divided into three lobes).[4]: 106 They grow from underground root-like stems calledrhizomes and die back down by mid summer (summer dormant).
The plants start blooming in spring, March to May in theBritish Isles[5]: 28 soon after the foliage emerges from the ground. Theflowers are solitary, held above the foliage on short stems, with a whorl of three palmate or palmately-lobed leaflike bracts beneath. The flowers are 2 centimetres (0.8 in) diameter, with six or seven (and on rare occasions eight to ten)tepals (petal-like segments) with manystamens. In the wild the flowers are usually white but may be pinkish, lilac or blue, and often have a darker tint on the backs of the tepals.
Similar species
editTheyellow wood anemone (Anemonoides ranunculoides) is slightly smaller, with yellow flowers and usually without basal leaves.[4]
Wood sorrelOxalis acetosella, which grows in similar shaded places, can be readily distinguished by its 3-parted, clover-like leaves and smaller flowers with only white petals and 5 sepals.[5][6]
Distribution and habitat
editThe native range ofAnemonoides nemorosa extends acrossEurope to westernAsia, reaching as far south as theCaucasus Mountains inTurkey. It has been introduced intoNew Zealand and elsewhere.[1] InNorth America, there are naturalized populations at well-known sites inNewfoundland,Quebec, andMassachusetts.[7][8]
A. nemorosa is often found in shady woods.[6] The species is common in theBritish Isles[5] but it spreads very slowly there, by as little as six feet per century, so it is often used as an indicator for ancient woodland.[9]
Ecology
editThe flowers arepollinated by insects, especiallyhoverflies.[10] The seeds are achenes.[4]
In cultivation
editManycultivars have been selected for garden use, TheRHS Plant Finder 2008–2009 lists 70 cultivars sold by nurseries in the UK. Some of the most widely available are:
- 'Alba Plena' - double white
- 'Allenii'agm[11] - large lavender-blue flowers, often with seven petals (named afterJames Allen, nurseryman)
- 'Bowles' Purple' - purple flowers (named afterE.A. Bowles, plantsman and garden writer)
- 'Bracteata Pleniflora' - double, white flowers, with green streaks and a frilly ruff ofbracts
- 'Robinsoniana'agm[12] - pale lavender-blue flowers (named afterWilliam Robinson, plantsman and garden writer)
- 'Royal Blue' - deep blue flowers with purple backs
- 'Vestal'agm[13] - white, anemone-centred flowers
- 'Virescens'agm[14] - flowers mutated into small conical clusters of leaves
Those markedagm are recipients of theRoyal Horticultural Society'sAward of Garden Merit.
Anemonoides ×lipsiensis, a hybrid betweenA. nemorosa andA. ranunculoides,[15] has pale yellow flowers;A. ×lipsiensis 'Pallida' is the best-known result of this cross. It has also been awarded the AGM.[16]
Gallery
edit- Anemonoides nemorosa in Flemingsbergsskogens naturreservat, Sweden
- Form inChemnitz, Germany
- Colonial growth in forest,Radziejowice, Poland
- Double-flowered cultivar inLincolnshire, England
- Pink-flowered plant inHohenlohe, Germany
- Flowers with six, seven, eight and nine tepals
- A flowering wood anemone.
- Half-opened fragile flower bud of a Anemonoides nemorosa.
References
edit- ^abc"Anemonoides nemorosa (L.) Holub".Plants of the World Online.Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved21 July 2020.
- ^"Anemone nemorosa Wood Anemone, European thimbleweed PFAF Plant Database".Plants for a Future. Retrieved2022-02-01.
- ^"Wood anemone".UPM Forest Life. 2019-05-13. Retrieved2022-02-01.
- ^abcStace, C. A. (2010).New Flora of the British Isles (Third ed.). Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press. p. 88.ISBN 978-0-521-70772-5.
- ^abcClapham AR, Tutin TG, Warburg EF (1981).Excursion Flora of the British Isles (3 ed.). Cambridge University Press.ISBN 0-521-23290-2.
- ^abParnell, J. and Curtis, T. 2012.Webb's An Irish Flora. Cork University Press.ISBN 978-185918-4783
- ^Dutton, Bryan E.; Keener, Carl S.; Ford, Bruce A. (1997)."Anemone". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.).Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). Vol. 3. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press. Retrieved2020-11-28 – via eFloras.org,Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO &Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
- ^" Anemone nemorosa".County-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014. Retrieved28 November 2020.
- ^"Plantlife - Wood Anemone". Archived fromthe original on 2021-03-08. Retrieved2018-10-17.
- ^Blank, S. and M. Wulf.on seed production and pollinator biology ofAnemone nemorosa (Buschwindröschen).Leibniz-Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF). 2008.
- ^"Anemone nemorosa 'Allenii'". RHS. Retrieved12 April 2020.
- ^"Anemone nemorosa 'Robinsoniana'". RHS. Retrieved12 April 2020.
- ^"Anemone nemorosa 'Vestal'". RHS. Retrieved12 April 2020.
- ^"Anemone nemorosa 'Virescens'". RHS. Retrieved12 April 2020.
- ^Astuti, Giovanni; Marconi, Giancarlo; Pupillo, Paolo; Peruzzi, Lorenzo (17 May 2019)."Anemonoides ×lipsiensis comb. nov. (Ranunculaceae), new for the Italian flora".Italian Botanist.7:101–105.doi:10.3897/italianbotanist.7.35004. Retrieved21 July 2020.
- ^"Anemone ×lipsiensis 'Pallida'". RHS. Retrieved12 April 2020.
Further reading
edit- Shirreffs, D. A. 1985.Anemone nemorosa L.Journal of Ecology 73: 1005-1020.
- Philip, C. (2008).Plant Finder 2008-2009. Dorling Kindersley.ISBN 978-1-4053-3190-6.
- Plantlife - Wood AnemoneArchived 2021-03-08 at theWayback Machine