Anemone quinquefolia




Anemone quinquefolia is a spring-flowering plant in the genus Anemone, native to North America. It is commonly called wood anemone, like Anemone nemorosa, a closely related European species. The American species has been treated as a subspecies of Anemone nemorosa.

Description

It is a perennial herbaceous plant, growing in early spring to tall, and dying back down to the root-like rhizomes by mid summer. The rhizomes spread just below the soil surface and grow quickly, contributing to its rapid spread in woodland conditions, where it can carpet large areas. The flower has five petal-like segments that are long and wide. The flowers are usually white, but sometimes pink, or with a pink base and white tip, or with a white base and a pink or blue tip.
The leaves are in three parts with deeply lobed lateral leaflets, giving the appearance of five leaflets. The leaf veins are branched and not parallel.

Taxonomy

Anemone quinquefolia was named in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus in Species Plantarum. He described it as having leaves with five oval serrated parts; hence the species epithet quinquefolia, meaning "five-leaved".
Anemone quinquefolia is part of a species complex that includes A. grayi, A. lancifolia, A. lyallii, A. oregana and A. piperi.

Varieties

The Flora of North America and The Plant List accept only two varieties:
The two are distinguished mainly by the size of the achene, the body of which is in var. minima as compared to in var. quinquefolia.
Other sources accept further varieties, such as A. quinquefolia var. bifolia.

Synonyms

Anemone quinquefolia has a number of synonyms. These include:
It has also been treated as part of Anemone nemorosa under the names: