Species: Anemone richardsonii Hook.

comments | credits | copyright

Back to: Plants at Risk in Saskatchewan

Anemone richardsonii Hook.

Species Image Gallery
(opens in a new window)

TAXONOMY

Family:

Ranunculaceae

Genus:

Anemone

Species Synonyms:

Jurtsevia richardsonii (Hook.) A.&D. Löve

Common Names:

yellow thimbleweed
Richardson’s anemone
yellow anemone

DISTRIBUTION

Canada:

Yukon – Mackenzie – Ungava, south to British Columbia – southwestern Alberta, northwestern Saskatchewan – northern Manitoba

Saskatchewan:

Lake Athabasca north shore (Charlot Point), Fond-du-Lac, Clearwater River (Smoothrock Falls, south of Descharme River confluence)

Ecoregion:

Mid-Boreal Upland, Tazin Lake Upland

HABITAT

Saskatchewan:

moist woods and muskegs

Associated Species:

alder species, white spruce

RARITY STATUS

Provincial Status According
to Harms (2003):

Endangered

Nature Conservancy Status:

G5 S1

Saskatchewan Species at
Risk Status:

None

COSEWIC Status:

None

Twoleaf anemone is threatened because of rarity in Saskatchewan. It is regionally restricted to the eastern part of the province. Some local populations are small and some larger. Possible threats have been identified for this species.

SPECIES DESCRIPTION

Height:

5 – 20 cm

Roots:

rhizomes horizontal, golden yellow or light brown

Stems:

erect

Leaves:

basal leaf 1, may be on separate stalk from flowers, simple, deeply 3 – 5-lobed; stalk 2 – 8 cm long; blade kidney-shaped to nearly round, 1.5 – 3 cm long, 1.5 – 4 cm wide, base heart-shaped, tip acute, hairless or long hairy

Inflorescence:

flowers solitary; flower stalk slightly hairy; bracts (stem leaves) 2 – 3, simple, 3 – 5-lobed, sessile, base wedge-shaped, tip acute, hairless or long-hairy, margin round-toothed

Flowers:

sepals 6, yellow, elliptic; petals absent; stamens 25 - 55

Fruits:

aggregates of seeds loose, spherical; seeds hairless, beak recurved

ANEMONE KEY FOR SPECIES FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN

1 Styles feathery; sepals lavender, 2 – 4 cm long	A. patens
1 Styles hairless or hairy but not feathery; sepals white to purple or reddish, generally less than 2 cm long	2

2 Leaves twice-divided into three linear segments	3
2 Leaves less finely divided, principal segments 3 – 5, broader	4

3 Stems several-flowered, to 70 cm tall; ultimate leaf-segments over 3 mm broad	A. multifida var. richardsiana
3 Stems 1 – 3-flowered, to 30 cm tall; ultimate leaf-segments less than 3 mm broad	A. multifida var. hudsoniana

4 Fruits long-woolly	5
4 Fruits hairless to densely short-hairy	7

5 Bracts sessile; rhizomes present, creeping	A. parviflora var. parviflora
5 Bracts stalked; rhizomes absent	6

6 Bracts in one set, below the inflorescence only; leaf lobes saw-toothed on one side for at least half the length; plant densely ashy-hairy	A. cylindrica
6 Bracts in two sets, with the secondary bracts subtending the inflorescence branches; leaf lobes toothed at apex only; plant short-hairy but greener	A. virginiana var. cylindroidea

7 Stem leaves (bracts) stalked	A. quinquefolia var. bifolia
7 Stem leaves (bracts) sessile	8

8 Flowers yellow, solitary; bracts in 2 sets (one directly below the inflorescence and one further down the stem), deeply 3 – 5-parted	A. richardsonii
8 Flowers white or cream, often 2 or more; bracts on primary stem below the inflorescence only, deeply 2 – 3-parted	A. canadensis