Enemion biternatum

Native

Moderate moisture. Woods, forests.

April to May

White

4″ to 16″

This is a 4″ to 16″ tall, erect, perennial forb that rises on slender stems from fibrous roots and occasional small tuber-like thickenings. It often forms dense colonies.

Basal leaves arise from the base of the plant on hairless stalks up to 4¾″ long. The basal leaves divided into 3 stalked leaflets. The leaflets are up to 1″ long and ¾″ wide, with 2 or usually 3 lobes, sometimes with 1 to 3 secondary lobes. The lobes are rounded and have a small, abrupt, glandular point at the tip. The upper and lower surfaces are hairless. At the top of the flowering stalk, just below the inflorescence, are 2 opposite or 3 whorled leaves, which are similar to the basal leaves. The stem leaves are alternate, smaller, less divided, and on shorter leaf stalks.

The inflorescence is flowers rising either singly or in loose, leafy clusters of 2 to 4 from the leaf axils.

The flowers are ½″ to ¾″ across. They have 5 white petal-like sepals. There are no petals. In the center are 25 to 50 stamens with yellow anthers.

The fruit is a dry, upright or widely spreading fruit with several seeds that splits open along one side at maturity.

Rue anemone (Thalictrum thalictroides) is a shorter plant, reaching only 8″ in height at maturity. The flowers are much larger, up to 1¼″ across, have 6 to 10 petal-like sepals, and are often pale pink-purple to lavender. The leaves ave very shallowly lobed or simply notched. It is often found as a solitary plant.