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Anemone quinquefolia

Common name:	Wind Flower	Family:	Ranunculaceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	200, 235, 270
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	An extremely acrid plant, even small doses causing a great disturbance of the stomach[207].
Range:	Eastern N. America - Nova Scotia to Georgia, western Ontario, Minnesota and Tennessee.
Habitat:	Moist open woods, thickets, clearings, streamsides, occasionally swampy areas at elevations from 30 - 1900 metres[270].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	0	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Anemone, Wood [S], Anemone,Wood [E], Nightcaps [P,B], Wood Anemone [S],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	quinquefolia = 5 leaves
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Ranunculales. Buttercup family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Us(Nc)

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 0.3m. It is hardy to zone 7. It is in flower in May. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees and flies. The plant is self-fertile. We rate it 0/5 for edibility and 1/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in full shade (deep woodland) or semi-shade (light woodland). It requires moist soil and can tolerate drought.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Dappled Shade, Shady Edge, Deep Shade.

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Rubefacient Vesicant.

Employed as a rubefacient in the treatment of rheumatism, gout and fevers, it is also used as a vesicant in the removal of corns[207].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Succeeds in ordinary garden soil but prefers a moist well-drained woodland soil[1, 200]. Prefers a moist peaty soil in some shade[187]. Tolerates drought during its summer dormancy[200].
Hardy to at least -20° c[187].
This species is closely related to A. nemorosa[200].
Plants seem to be immune to the predations of rabbits[233].
A greedy plant, inhibiting the growth of nearby plants, especially legumes[54].
A good woodland plant[1, 187].

Propagation

Seed - best sown in a cold frame as soon as it is ripe in the summer[1]. Surface sow or only just cover the seed and keep the soil moist. Sow stored seed as soon as possible in late winter or early spring. The seed usually germinates in 1 - 6 months at 15° c[133]. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in light shade in the greenhouse for at least their first year. When the plants are large enough, plant them out in the spring.
Division in late summer after the plant dies down.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[S] Image from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for the family Ranunculaceae.

[CHINA] Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[54] Hatfield. A. W. How to Enjoy your Weeds. Frederick Muller Ltd 1977 ISBN 0-584-10141-4
Interesting reading.

[133] Rice. G. (Editor) Growing from Seed. Volume 1. Thompson and Morgan. 1987
Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation.

[187] Phillips. R. & Rix. M. Perennials Volumes 1 and 2. Pan Books 1991 ISBN 0-330-30936-9
Photographs of over 3,000 species and cultivars of ornamental plants together with brief cultivation notes, details of habitat etc.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[207] Coffey. T. The History and Folklore of North American Wild Flowers. Facts on File. 1993 ISBN 0-8160-2624-6
A nice read, lots of information on plant uses.

[233] Thomas. G. S. Perennial Garden Plants J. M. Dent & Sons, London. 1990 ISBN 0 460 86048 8
A concise guide to a wide range of perennials. Lots of cultivation guides, very little on plant uses.

[235] Britton. N. L. Brown. A. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada Dover Publications. New York. 1970 ISBN 0-486-22642-5
Reprint of a 1913 Flora, but still a very useful book.

[270] Flora of N. America 0
An on-line version of the flora with an excellent description of the plant including a brief mention of plant uses.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Anemone+quinquefolia
This page (US) http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Anemone+quinquefolia

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