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Common Name: Rue-Anemone, Windflower
Genus: Thalictrum thalictroides
Family: Ranunculaceae
Blue Ridge Parkway
North Carolina
May 9, 2002
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Rue-Anemone has 1 - 5 (usually three) white blossoms. The similar wood anemone (Anemone quinquefolia) has a solitary flower and very different leaves. Both species have similar flowers composed of 5 - 10 white sepals surrounding a cluster of pistils and stamens. Rue-anemone leaves resemble meadow rue (Thalictrum dioicum) leaves; they are compound with lobed leaflets. In ancient times. Persians considered a similar species so poisonous it could foul the air. They often held their breath when passing this plant. There is no need to fear observing the blossoms, but be careful if you handle the plant. The sap was once used to burn the corns off feet. April - May [White, Peter, Wildflowers of the Smokies. Great Smoky Mountains Natural History Association, Gatlinburg, 1996]
The 3/4 inch wide flowers of these low, delicate, early spring perennials may be either pure white or tinged with pink. A frequent inhabitant of rich, often low woods of most of the eastern U.S., these plants are found chiefly in our mountains and piedmont. March - April [Justice, William S. and Bell, C. Ritchie, Wild Flowers of North Carolina. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1968]
This delicate herb, which has no petals, has 5 to 10 white or pink petal-like sepals and numerous stamens. There is a whorl of tri-lobed leaves just below the cluster of 2 to 3 flowers. The basal leaves are also tri-lobed and grow on long leaf stalks in 2 or 3 groups of 3. The plant grows 4 to 8 inches high. Indians used the roots of rue anemone to treat intestinal disorders. Presently, it is occasionally used to treat foot problems. March - May [Adams, Kevin and Casstevens, Marty, Wildflowers of the Southern Appalachians: How to Photograph and Identify Them. John F. Blair, Publisher, Winston-Salem, 1996]
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Alphabetical Listings -- A B C D, E F G H I, J, K L M N, O P Q, R S T U, V W X, Y, Z
Family Listings -- A B C D, E F G H I, J, K L M N, O P Q, R S T U, V W X, Y, Z
Genus Listings -- A B C D, E F G H I, J, K L M N, O P Q, R S T U, V W X, Y, Z