Native Plant of the Week: Wood Anemone ~ Anemone quinquefolia

Wood Anemone ~ Anemone quinquefolia


Wood Anemone is a tiny early spring flowering woodland native. Reaching only about 6 inches in height, it's an easy plant to overlook. This is one of my favorite Anemones, flowering really early, late April - early May in our area. I would guess it is an important early flowering plant for emerging bumble bees.

The five parted (sometimes 6) flowers can range from white to medium pink in color. The leaves are a burgundy color when emerging, changing to a medium green when mature. The leaves are  palmately divided into 3 lobed sections.

We have Wood Anemone in our back yard in dry shade growing underneath mature oaks. It is a rhizomatous plant, and will spread to form small clusters. It seems to do well in dry to mesic soil, under tree canopies but also along the margins or openings of woodlands with more sun.

This Anemone is not usually found for sale at native plant nurseries.

Wood Anemone is native to eastern North America, from Alberta eastwards in Canada, and the Dakotas eastwards in the US.