Anemone quinquefolia
Spring ephemeral woodland perennial in the buttercup family native to eastern North America, forming clumping colonies via rhizomes or tubers, with basal palmately divided leaves of 3–5 leaflets and a single white flower with five sepals on a short stalk, blooming in spring before tree leaves appear and dying back by midsummer, reaching about 10–20 cm tall in moist, shaded woods.
Common Names
Wood Anemone, Windflower, Nightcaps, Twoleaf Anemone
Summary
Wood windflower is a delicate North American woodland perennial native to eastern North America, arising from slender, mostly horizontal rhizomes to form colonies. Aerial shoots reach 5–30 cm tall; basal leaves are 0–1 and ternate, with three leaflets, while flowering stems bear solitary star-shaped white flowers about 2.5 cm across (usually five white sepals, sometimes pink-tinged) and a ring of creamy-white stamens, set above ground-covering, shade-loving growth. It occurs in moist open woods, thickets, clearings, and streamsides, often forming ground cover in shaded woodland drifts.
Cultivation favors moist, humus-rich, well-drained soil in partial to full shade and tolerates shade and moist conditions, making it suitable as ground cover for shade or woodland borders. It spreads by underground rhizomes to form carpets and is best propagated by division; it blooms in spring (Apr–Jun) and is generally deer resistant and pest- and disease-free, providing early-season interest in woodland plantings.
Lifecycle
Perennial
Height
2-12 inches
Spread
6-22 inches
Hardiness Zones
Zones 3-8
Sunlight Requirements
Ideally partial shade.
Soil Type
No single ideal soil; tolerates a variety—from wet meadows to open woods.
Soil Drainage
Moist, well-drained woodland soil.
Soil pH
6.0-7.5
Bloom Color
White, with occasional pink
Bloom Time
Spring
Foliage Color
Green, purplish-green to dark purple; reddish-bronze when young, turning green with age; purple/lavender tones.
Fall Foliage Color
Green, Purple/Lavender
Leaf Lifecycle
Deciduous
Growth Rate
Slow
Seasons of Interest
Spring, Summer, Fall
Propagation Methods
Seeds, Division
Attracts Wildlife
Attracts bees and other pollinators (flies)
Taxonomy
- Taxonomic Rank
- Species
- Author
- L.
- Publication
- Sp. Pl. 1: 541. 1753 [1 May 1753]
Superior Taxa
- Kingdom
- Plantae
- Subkingdom
- Pteridobiotina
- Phylum
- Angiosperms
- Order
- Ranunculales
- Family
- Ranunculaceae
- Genus
- Anemone
Synonyms
Anemone nemorosa var. bifolia Anemone nemorosa f. trifoliata Anemone quinquefolia f. rubra Anemone nemorosa var. quinquefolia Anemone quinquefolia var. quinquefolia