Anemone nemorosa

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Anemone nemorosa

Anemone nemorosa in flower

Conservation status

Secure

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Ranunculales
Family:	Ranunculaceae
Genus:	Anemone
Species:	A. nemorosa

Binomial name

Anemone nemorosa
L.

Anemone nemorosa is an early-spring flowering plant in the Genus Anemone. Common names include wood anemone, windflower, European thimbleweed and smell fox. It is a perennial herbaceous plant, growing in early spring to 5-15 cm tall, and dying back down to the root-like rhizomes by mid summer. The rhizomes, that spread just below the earth surface, grow quickly, contributing to its rapid spread in woodland conditions, where it can carpet large areas.

The flower is 2 cm diameter, with six or seven petal-like segments (actually tepals). In the wild the flowers are usually white, but may be pinkish, lilac or blue, and often have a darker tint to the back of the 'petals'. It does not have a scent, and little nectar, since it does not rely very much on pollination by insects for reproduction.

The plant is poisonous to humans, but has been used as a medicine.

Yellow wood anemone, Anemone ranunculoides, also known as the buttercup anemone, is a similar plant with slightly smaller flowers of rich yellow colouring.

[edit] Cultivation

Many cultivars have been selected for garden use eg Anemone nemorosa 'Allenii' which has large blue flowers. It has been awarded an Award of Garden Merit (AGM) H4 (hardy throughout the British Isles) by the Royal Horticultural Society, as have several of its cultivars (see below).

The RHS Plant Finder 2005-2006 lists more than fifty cultivars of Anemone nemorosa (AGM H4) available from nurseries in the UK. Some of those most widely available are:

'Alba Plena' - double white
'Allenii' (AGM H4) - large lavender-blue flowers, often with seven petals (Named after James Allen, nurseryman)
'Bowles' Purple' - purple flowers (Named after E.A. Bowles, plantsman and garden writer)
'Bracteata Pleniflora' - double, white flowers, with green streaks and a frilly ruff of bracts
'Robinsoniana' (AGM H4) - pale lavender-blue flowers (Named after William Robinson, plantsman and garden writer)
'Royal Blue' - deep blue flowers with purple backs
'Vestal' (AGM H4) - white, anemone-centred flowers
'Virescens' (AGM H4) - flowers mutated into small conical clusters of leaves.

Anemone × lipsiensis, a hybrid between A. nemorosa and A. ranunculoides, has pale yellow flowers; A. × lipsiensis 'Pallida' is the best-known result of this cross. It has been awarded the AGM H4, like both of its parents.