by Dr. F. Alice LeDuc
Anemonatrum deltoideum (syn. Anemone deltoidea) – Columbia Windflower; Anemone multifida – Cutleaf Anemone; Anemone st. It estlyallii – Western Wood Anemone; Anemone oregana – Oregon Anemone
To me the anemones are the first sign of Spring. During the years I lived in Texas the anemones started blooming in late January or February. Here the first to flower is the Oregon Anemone and the last to flower is Columbia Windflower. The species, that I have found as such a wonderful and delightful flower dancing among the groundcover plants, is the Columbia Windflower. It is such a treat to find the white flowers along the trail by the Rogue River that winds from the Gorge to the Natural Bridge. They seen to like the shaded areas under the forest conifer trees.
How to I tell them apart, you ask. Well, The Cutleaf Anemone is the easiest. It often has pink flowers rather than white and the leaves do not have three leaflets but are highly pinnified, that is with lobes very narrow, another way of saying the lobes are finely dissected. In addition, the flowers have 50 – 80 stamens. The Columbia Anemone flowers in mid-summer and has white flowers with 100 – 200 stamens in each. They have one basal leaf that is divided into three leaflets that are coarsely toothed and three sessile leaves also coarsely toothed and with a sessile attachment under the flower. The Oregon Anemone flowers, are uncommonly found, they bloom in mid-spring most often having blue to purplish flowers but occasionally they can be white and always with 30 – 75 stamens per flower. The basal leaf is composed of three large leaflets sometimes petioled, while the terminal leaf is composed of three sharply toothed leaflets smaller. They are similar to the basal leaf, which may or may not be present when species is in flower. Lyall’s Anemone blooms in late spring to early summer. Three leaves located mid stem and originating from the same node (this arrangement is called a whorl of leaves) are petioled and divided into three leaflets that have rounded tips to the lobes. The blue, white or pink flowers has only 10 – 35 stamens.
All of the species can be found in the shaded openings of the moist forests mainly on the west side of the Cascade Mountains. The most commonly seen species is the Columbia Anemone. Lyall’s Anemone seems to prefer the wet areas but is uncommon. Anemone lyallii is found only in Oregon and Washington, while the range of A. oregana extends down into northern California, A. multifida has a range mainly in British Columbia but also, scattered through Washington and Oregon and Anemonatrum deltoideum can be found from Alaska to Mew Mexico and east to New York.
The Columbia Anemone has rather recently been transferred out of the genus Anemone to a different genus and the accepted name is now Anemonastrum deltoideum. Regardless of its scientific name this delightful flower comes with a caution label, the plants are toxic. Please do not eat any part of the plant. Still there are gardens where Anemones are excellent ground level flowers for a woodland garden.
