The following is an identification key which defines characteristics of the species within the genus Anemone as presented in Gray's Manual of Botany.
"a.styles short, not plumose; sepals 0.5-2.5 cm. long; staminodia none. ANEMONE proper...b.
b. Carpels and achenes densely long-pubescent, inmaturity long-woolly and forming dense woolly heads...c.
c. Tuberous-rooted; sepals 10-20, linear; flowering stem solitary, 1-flowered.............................................................................................................1. A. caroliniana
c. Non-tuberous; sepals commonly 4-8, broader...d.
d. Plant with slender creeping rhizome and mostly 1-flowered stem; bases of stems and petioles glabrous or silky; involucral leaves sessile or subsessile, their lobes and divisions blunt................2. A. parviflora
d. Plants with stout branching caudex, mostly 2-many-flowered; bases of stems and petioles villous; involucral leaves petioled, their lobes and divisions acute or acutely...e.
e. Leaves dissected into numerous linear or narrowly lanceolate lobes; styles filiform, often deciduous in fruit............................................3. A. multifida
e. Leaves with 3-5 oblanceolate or obovate divisions, these with broad lobes; style subulate, persistent in fruit...f.
f. Involucre mostly 5-9 (rarely only 3)-leaved; peduncles mostly naked; plant cincreously silky-pubescent; styles crimson.............................................................4. A. cylindrica
f. Primary involucre 2-3 (rarely-5)-leaved; some of the peduncles bearing involucels; plants greener, loosely pubescent or glabrate; styles pale or mostly crimson-tipped.
Divisions of leaves mostly cureate at base (with straight sides); mature anthers 0.7-1.2 mm. long; fruiting heads 7-11 mm. thick, with ascending or subascending styles........................................5.A. riparia
Divisions of leaves mostly convex at base; mature anthers 1.2-1.6 mm. long; fruiting heads 1.2-1.5 cm. thick, with divergent styles..............................................6. A. virginiana
b. Carpels and achenes glabrous or pubescent, usually not woolly, in maturity forming loose globular heads...g.
g. Involucre sessile or subsessile; stems mostly proliferous-branching, 1-6-flowered; sepals white; achenes flattened, cuneate-obovate to reniform, broadly wing-margined, strigose, becoming glabrate, 4-6 mm. broad........................................................................7.A. canadensis
g. Involucre with petioled leaves; stems simple, 1-flowered; sepals pink-or crimson-tinged to white; achenes fusiform to slenderly ellipsoid, less than 2 mm. thick, short-hirsute to villous...h.
h. Terminal leaflet of involucral leaf not at all or but rarely incised or deeply cleft, the lateral leaflets merely serrate or dentate; veins and veinlets of sepals strongly and stomosing below the usually free tips. Rhizome 2-5 mm. thick; involucral leaves glabrous or nearly so, with leaflets 2-8.7 cm. long; sepals 1.3-2 cm. long; achenes 3.5-3.8 mm. long, minutely hirsute....................8. A. lancifolia
Rhizome 1-2 mm. thick; involucral leaves pilose on both sides with leaflets 1-2 cm. long; sepals about 8 mm. long; achenes 2.5-3 mm. long, soft-villous to lanate...................................................9. A. minima
h. Terminal leaflet of involucral leaf incised, the lateral often oleft; veins of sepals simple or subsimple, slightly forking above middle, the branches free to the tip or but slightly anastomosing...................................................................................10. A. quinquefolia
a. styles long and hairy; in fruit forming feathery tails; sepals 1.5-4 cm. long; stamens accompanied by gland-like staminodia a. PULSATILLA................................................. 11. A. patens var. Wolf-gangiana"
The common name "Windflower" is used to identify this species because it is believed that these flowers, "tremble in the slightest breeze".(http://web.onramp.ca/rivernen/plant_13.htm) The Wood Anemone is a perennial native herbaceous forb that blooms April through June. It can grow from 2"-8" in height. This plant species has rhizomes underground, where new shoots grow each year. It has five dark green leaves, which comes from the species name quinquefolia. The term "quinque" which means "five" and "folius" meaning "leaf", hence, "five leaf". The leaf arrangement is whorled and basal, showing that the leaves grow in a circular pattern about the base of the stem. The type of leaves that this plant has are palmately compound. The leaf margin is dentate and lobed, and the shape of the leaf is obovate. The inflorescence, the arrangement of flowers on the stem is solitary with dividing leaves coming out from the rootstalk. This flower species lacks petals and has an incomplete flower structure. There appears to be petals on the Wood Anemone but in actuality these are sepals ranging in number between four and nine. The sepals are about 3/4"-1" across. The colors of the flower are white and occasionally a pinkish color. A Wood Anemone is hypogynous, meaning that the parts of the flower are below the pistil and are attached to the receptacle. Fruits develop on these plants as a small, dry capsule and are called achenes. Later on, the achenes ripen and fall off the plant. These fruits are single-seeded and appear in clusters from April to June. The achenes are sessile or stalked and are ovoid to obovoid shaped. This species is bisexual or perfect, having both male and female reproductive organs in the same individual.(http://www.fs.fed.us/ne/delaware/ilpin/159.co, Illinois Plant Information Network)
The authority who described this species is Carlos Linnaeus. Linnaeus published a two-volume book called Species Plantarum in 1753, which more than likely describes this plant species. During my research, I was unable to find the holotype or paratype species and where it was collected. The location where the plant was first deposited was the Linnaen Herbarium at the Linnaen Society of London (CINN).(Reference: Cowan, Stafleu)
Anemone quinquefolia L. |
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| AREA | STATUS | REFERENCES |
| North America: Continental United States; Canada | Yes | Dutton,Keener,Ford, 1997 |
| Eastern North America: United States east of Mississippi; Ontario and eastern Canada | Yes | Dutton,Keener,Ford, 1997 |
| Southeastern United States: AL AR DE DC FL GA KY MD NC SC TN VA WV | Yes (Except FL) | Dutton,Keener,Ford, 1997 |
| Southern Appalachian States: AL GA KY MD NC SC TN VA WV | Yes | Dutton,Keener,Ford, 1997 |
| Coastal Plains | No | Duncan,Kartesz, 1981 |
| Piedmont | Yes | Duncan,Kartesz, 1981 |
| Blue Ridge Mountains | Yes | Duncan,Kartesz, 1981 |
| Yes | Smith, 1998 |
| Ridge and Valley | Yes | Duncan,Kartesz, 1981 |
| Cumberland Plateau | No | Duncan,Kartesz, 1981 |
| Georgia | Yes | Duncan,Kartesz, 1981 |
| Clarke County,Georgia | Yes | Jones,Coile, 1988 |
The Wood Anemone, an autotrophic C3 plant, reproduces by seed and vegetatively by rhizomes. It has a perennial life cycle, where it first emerges as a tiny bean sprout. As the bean sprout emerges the stem starts to bend while the flowerbud and leaves grow in the downward position. The plants grow in colonies, "because they have a rhizome just beneath soil from which additional new shoots grow each year"(Stokes 1985). "The flowers stay open for several weeks.(Stokes 1985)" The flowers usually stay open during the day but close during the night to protect the male and female parts of the flower while it is not being pollinated. During the day it can be pollinated by bees, wasps, and flies by sticking their heads down into the male and female parts of the flower, where they gather nectar from the sepal base. Wood Anemones also can be self-pollinators. "Once the flower is pollinated it no longer opens and closes, and the sepals and male parts are shed.(Stokes 1985)" Tiny fruits, called achenes begin developing and are fully ripened after about two to four weeks. When the fruits are fully developed they will fall off of the plant. After this stage, during the early summer, the leaves are shed from the plant. The plant is no longer seen throughout the rest of the year until the spring. "The plant spends the rest of summer, fall, and winter as roots and rhizomes under the ground(Stokes 1985)." The rhizomes will produce new shoots that will grow and develop every year during spring.
The Wood Anemone has been used for different medicinal purposes. It has been "employed as a rubefacient in the treatment of rheumatism, gout, and fevers; it is also used as a vesicant in the removal of corns". (Plants For a Future Species Database 1997) This plant is very toxic and can be a skin irritant.
The Wood Anemone can be found during the spring, usually in woodlands, dappled shade, shady edges, and in deep shaded regions. It is distributed in Northern North America and south in the mountains. It is located mostly in moist woods and on prairie land. The Wood Anemone prefers rich, moist soil. When cultivated it should be used "between larger plants in the woodland garden", and "wherever soil and light conditions permit.(Rook 1998)"
