Species: Anemone richardsonii Hook.

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Anemone richardsonii Hook.

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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:

Alnus sp., Picea glauca

RARITY STATUS

Provincial Status According
to Harms (2003):

Endangered

Nature Conservancy Status:

G5 S1

Saskatchewan Species at
Risk Status:

None

COSEWIC Status:

None

Anemone richardsonii is endangered because of rarity in Saskatchewan. No immediate threats are known but may occur in the future.

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; petiole 2 – 8 cm long; blade reniform to orbicular, 1.5 – 3 cm long, 1.5 – 4 cm wide, base cordate, apex acute, glabrous or villous

Inflorescence:

flowers solitary; peduncle puberulent; involucral bracts (stem leaves) 2 – 3, simple, 3 – 5-lobed, sessile, base cuneate, apex acute, glabrous or villous, margin crenate

Flowers:

sepals 6, yellow, elliptic; corolla absent; stamens 25 – 55

Fruits:

aggregates of achenes loose, spherical; achenes glabrous, beak recurved

ANEMONE KEY FOR SPECIES FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN

1 Styles plumose; calyx lavender, 2 – 4 cm long	A. patens
1 Styles glabrous or pubescent but not plumose; calyx white to purple or reddish, generally less than 2 cm long	2

2 Leaves twice-ternately divided into 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 Achenes long-woolly, in dense heads	5
4 Achenes glabrous to densely hirsute	7

5 Involucre sessile; rhizomes present, creeping	A. parviflora var. parviflora
5 Involucre petioled; rhizomes absent	6

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

7 Stem leaves (involucre) petiolate	A. quinquefolia var. bifolia
7 Stem leaves (involucre) sessile	8

8 Flowers yellow, solitary; involucral leaves 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; involucral leaves on primary stem below the inflorescence only, deeply 2 – 3-parted	A. canadensis