Wood anemone

Description

Anemonoides quinquefolia (French: anémone à cinq folioles), a flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, is native to North America. It is commonly called wood anemone or windflower, not to be confused with Anemonoides nemorosa, a closely related European species also known by these common names. The specific epithet quinquefolia means "five-leaved", which is a misnomer since each leaf has just three leaflets. A plant typically has a single, small white flower with 5 sepals (but no petals). Anemonoides quinquefolia is a perennial herbaceous plant with a horizontal underground rhizome 1–3 mm (0.04–0.12 in) thick. There are two distinct leaf forms: stem leaves and a basal leaf. The flowering stem (which includes the stem leaves) and the basal leaf emanate from the same base point on the rhizome, but since the rhizome is underground, this gives the appearance of two distinct plants, one flowering and one nonflowering. The flowering stem emerges first (if at all), followed by the basal leaf once the plant has flowered. The flowering plant stands 5–20 cm (2–8 in) tall, occasionally reaching heights of 30 cm (12 in). A whorl of three ternate petiolate leaves (technically bracts) subtends the flower. The lateral leaflets of each stem leaf may be lobed, giving the appearance of five leaflets per leaf. Each leaflet is up to 5 cm (2.0 in) long, with serrate leaf margins (edges) and branched (not parallel) veins. The flower stalk rises directly from the leaf whorl. The solitary flower is 2–2.5 cm (0.8–1.0 in) across with 4–9 (usually 5) sepals (but no petals) and 30–60 white-tipped stamens. Each sepal is 6–25 mm (0.2–1.0 in) long and 4–8 mm (0.2–0.3 in) wide. The petal-like sepals are usually white but occasionally they are pink, or with a pink base and white tip, or with a white base and a pink or blue tip. The fruits are beaked achenes 2.5–4.5 millimetres (0.1–0.2 in) long, oblong in shape with hooked styles. The single basal leaf is a ternate leaf with a petiole 4–25 cm (2–10 in) long. The long petiole (leaf stalk) rises directly from the rhizome. The lateral leaflets are usually lobed (even more so than the stem leaves), giving the appearance of five leaflets (hence the specific epithet quinquefolia, which means "five-leaved"). Each leaflet is up to 4.5 cm (1.8 in) long.