Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

CAROLINA ANEMONE

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Anemone caroliniana Walt.

Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 2 - 12 inches

Family: Ranunculaceae - Buttercup Family

Flowering Period: April, May

Stems:

Erect, simple, slender, glabrous below, very hairy above, arising from rhizomes with tuberous thickenings.

Leaves:

Basal leaves on stalks 1-4 inches long, deeply divided into 3 parts which are in turn divided into toothed or lobed segments, 1-6 inches long, 1-2 inches wide, glabrous or sparsely hairy; upper stem leaves in whorl at base of flowering stalk, mostly sessile, deeply dissected, about 1/2 to 1 inch long.

Inflorescences:

Solitary flower, 3/4 to 1.5 inches wide, terminal.

Flowers:

Sepals petal-like, 10-27 in number, to 3/4 inch long, purple, bluish, or white; petals absent; stamens and pistils numerous, yellow, in central cylindric cluster.

Fruits:

Achenes, densely woolly, in elongate heads.

Habitat:

Dry, open prairies and pastures; gravelly or sandy soils.

Distribution:

East two-thirds of Kansas.

Comments:

The flowers open in the morning and close by late afternoon.

Carolina anemone