Flora of North America species comparison

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Anemone oregana

Anemone virginiana

blue windflower, bog anemone, Oregon anemone, Oregon windflower, western wood anemone, western wood anenome

anémone de virginie, riverbank anemone, tall anemone, tall thimbleweed, tall windflower, thimbleweed, Virginia anemone
Aerial shoots

5-30(-35) cm, from rhizomes, rhizomes horizontal.

30-100(-110) cm, from caudices, rarely with ascending rhizomes, caudices ascending to vertical.
Basal leaves

0-1, ternate;

petiole 4-20 cm;

terminal leaflet sessile to petiolulate, oblanceolate to rhombic, oblong, or ovate, 1-5(-6) × 0.7-2.5(-3.5) cm, base narrowly cuneate, margins sharply serrate on distal 1/2(-2/3), apex acuminate to acute, surfaces strigose to nearly glabrous;

lateral leaflets unlobed or 1x-lobed; ultimate lobes 0.4-10 mm wide.

1-5, ternate;

petiole 5-35 cm;

terminal leaflet sessile or nearly so, oblanceolate to obovate, 2-9(-12) × 2-5(-7) cm, base cuneate to broadly cuneate, margins coarsely serrate and incised on distal 1/2, apex acuminate to narrowly acute, surfaces pilose, more so abaxially;

lateral leaflets usually 1-2x-lobed or -parted, occasionally unlobed; ultimate lobes 10-30(-40) mm wide.
Inflorescences

1-flowered;

peduncle proximally glabrous, distally villous to pilose;

involucral bracts 3, 1-tiered, ternate, ±similar to basal leaves, bases distinct;

terminal leaflet sessile to petiolulate, oblanceolate to rhombic, oblong, or ovate, 1-8 × 0.8-3(-3.5) cm, bases narrowly cuneate to cuneate, margins crenate to serrate on distal 1/2(-2/3), apex acuminate to acute, surfaces abaxially glabrous or strigose, adaxially nearly glabrous to strigose;

lateral leaflets unlobed or 1x-lobed; ultimate lobes 0.5-10 mm wide.

(1-)3-9-flowered cymes;

peduncle villous;

primary involucral bracts 3(-5), secondary involucral bracts 2(-3), (1-)2-tiered, ternate, ±similar to basal leaves, bases distinct;

terminal leaflet ±sessile, elliptic to oblanceolate, 2-10(-12) cm (2 cm in secondary involucre) × 2-5(-7) cm, bases cuneate, margins coarsely serrate and incised on distal 1/2, apex acuminate to narrowly acute, surfaces pilose, more so abaxially;

lateral leaflets unlobed or 1x-lobed or -parted; ultimate lobes 8-25(-35)mm wide.
Flowers

sepals 5-7(-8), blue to purple, reddish, or purple to pink (rarely nearly white or abaxially reddish, violet, or marginally purple, adaxially white), ovate, oblong, or elliptic, 10-20 × 5-8(-10) mm, glabrous;

stamens 30-75.

sepals usually 5, green, yellow, or red (rarely white or abaxially green to green-yellow and adaxially green or yellow and tinged red), oblong, ovate, or obovate, 6.5-20 × 2.5-10mm, abaxially hairy, adaxially glabrous or nearly so;

stamens 50-70.
Achenes

body oblong to ellipsoid, 4-5 × 1.5-2 mm, not winged, puberulous to pilose, rarely glabrous;

beak ±straight, (0.5-)1-1.5 mm, glabrous.

body obovoid, 2-3.7 × 1.5-2mm, not winged, densely woolly;

beak curved, 1-1.5mm, puberulous, not plumose.
Heads of achenes

nearly spheric;

pedicel (1.5-)2-5(-7) cm.

oblong-ellipsoid, rarely obconic;

pedicel 13-25(-30) cm.

Anemone oregana

Anemone virginiana
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR; WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; CT; DC; DE; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; VA; VT; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; ON; QC; SK
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Varieties 3 (3 in the flora).

See C. S. Keener et al. (1995) for an analysis of infraspecific variation within Anemone virginiana from which the current treatment has been adopted.

Varieties of Anemone virginiana used medicinally by native Americans were not specified; the species was used as an antidiarrheal, an aid for whooping cough, a stimulant, an emetic, a love potion, a remedy for tuberculosis, and a protection against witchcraft medicine (D. E. Moerman 1986).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Stamens 30–60; abaxial color of sepals same as adaxial color; margins of involucral bracts similar to those of basal leaves.
var. oregana
1. Stamens 60–75; abaxial color of sepals different from adaxial color; margins of involucral bracts more coarsely serrate than those of basal leaves.
var. felix
1. Sepals usually 5–10mm, abaxially densely tomentose; anthers 0.7–1(–1.2) mm; primarily Canadian, in dry woods, sandy ridges, and grasslands.
var. cylindroidea
1. Sepals (6–)10–21 mm, abaxially usually thinly pubescent; anthers (0.8–)1–1.7 mm; widely distributed, in moist habitats.
→ 2
2. Base of involucral bracts cordate or reniform, rarely subtruncate, terminal leaflets light green, margins proximally mostly straight- to convex-sided, variously lobed or serrate, variously pubescent; anthers typically greater than 1.1 mm; heads of achenes ovoid to ovoid-cylindric, (9–)11–14 mm diam.; widely distributed.
var. virginiana
2. Base of involucral bracts usually truncate to subtruncate, sometimes reniform or cordate, terminal leaflets deep green, margins proximally concave- to straight-sided, distally incised, thinly pubescent; anthers typically less than 1.2 mm; heads of achenes ±ovoid-cylindric, 8–10(–11) mm diam.; distributed primarily in New England, Great Lakes area, and adjacent Canada.
var. alba
Source FNA vol. 3. FNA vol. 3.
Parent taxa Ranunculaceae > Anemone Ranunculaceae > Anemone
Sibling taxa
A. acutiloba, A. americana, A. berlandieri, A. canadensis, A. caroliniana, A. cylindrica, A. deltoidea, A. drummondii, A. edwardsiana, A. grayi, A. lancifolia, A. lyallii, A. multiceps, A. multifida, A. narcissiflora, A. occidentalis, A. okennonii, A. parviflora, A. patens, A. piperi, A. quinquefolia, A. richardsonii, A. tuberosa, A. virginiana
A. acutiloba, A. americana, A. berlandieri, A. canadensis, A. caroliniana, A. cylindrica, A. deltoidea, A. drummondii, A. edwardsiana, A. grayi, A. lancifolia, A. lyallii, A. multiceps, A. multifida, A. narcissiflora, A. occidentalis, A. okennonii, A. oregana, A. parviflora, A. patens, A. piperi, A. quinquefolia, A. richardsonii, A. tuberosa
Subordinate taxa
A. oregana var. felix, A. oregana var. oregana
A. virginiana var. alba, A. virginiana var. cylindroidea, A. virginiana var. virginiana
Name authority A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 22: 308. (1887) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 540. (1753)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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