Anemone virginiana (Tall Anemone) - photos and description

 

 

 

 

 

 


Fruiting head ovoid (egg-shaped); its styles measured from 1.5 to 1.8 mm long. 


Stem leaf in above photo; lobes have one side that is about 1/2 serrate.


Stem leaf in above photo; lobes have one side that is about 1/2 serrate.


Basal leaf in above photo; lobes have one side that is about 1/2 serrate.

General: A slender, erect woodland plant with trifoliate leaves. Stems pubescent.

Flowers: Flowers greenish-white with 5 sepals, and no petals. Sepals lanceolate to 10 mm long, and have a white woolly underside. Fruiting head round to ovoid. We measured a fruiting head at 7 mm long. Styles measured from 1.5 to 1.8 mm long.

Leaves: Trifoliate, having leaf lobes with about 1/2 of their edges serrate. Upper leaves opposite, lower stem leaves in whorls of 3 to 4. Stem leaves petiolate. Basal leaves on long petioles. Bottom of leaves pubescent. We measured a basal leaf at 7.5 cm long by 9 cm wide, and an upper stem leaf at 4.5 cm long by 6 cm wide

Height: Height listed in Budd's Flora to 80 cm, we measured plants to 69 cm tall.

Habitat: Woods and thickets.

Abundance: Uncommon.

Origin: Native.

Synonym: listed in some of the field guides we use as Anemone riparia.

Similar species: This plant is very similar to Anemone cylindrica. The differences:

- Leaf lobes serrate or not: A. virginiana has leaf lobes which are serrate on one side for half their length or more (Flora of Alberta); leaflets more or less serrate (Taxonomic Reminder for Recognizing Saskatchewan Plants). A. cylindrica has leaf lobes merely coarsely toothed at apex (Flora of Alberta); lobes nowhere serrate (Taxonomic Reminder for Recognizing Saskatchewan Plants).

- Length of styles: A. virginiana: 1.0 mm to 1.5 mm long (Flora of Alberta). A. cylindrica: about 0.5 mm long (Flora of Alberta).

- Sepal length: Budd's Flora uses sepal length in its key to separate the two species, but I wouldn't use this characteristic to identify these plants. Flora of Alberta and Budd's Flora disagree on sepal length, and furthermore Flora of Alberta believes there is an overlap in sepal length between the two species. (Flora of Alberta) A. virginiana 7 mm to 20 mm long; A. cylindrica 5 mm to 15 mm long. (Budd's Flora) A. virginiana 10 to 20 mm long; A. cylindrica 8 to 10 mm long.

When and where photographed: Photos taken June 15th on a steep, wooded hillside, Fairy Hill, about 30 km north of our home in Regina, SK.