BALKAN ANEMONE

Anemone blanda

Buttercup Family [Ranunculaceae]

month8mar month8march month8apr month8april month8may

status
statusZneophyte
flower
flower8blue
inner
inner8cream
inner
inner8green
morph
morph8actino
petals
petalsZMany
stem
stem8round
toxicity
toxicityZlowish

2nd April 2014, Yarrow Valley Country Park, Adlington, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
A garden plant which escapes into the wild occasionally and grows to 30cm tall.


14th April 2014, a garden, Marple, Gtr M/cr. Photo: © RWD
A garden plant which escapes into the wild occasionally and grows to 30cm tall.


2nd April 2014, Yarrow Valley Country Park, Adlington, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
Like Blue Anemone (Anemone appenina) but has narrower petals (actually sepals) that are not hairy underneath.


2nd April 2014, Yarrow Valley Country Park, Adlington, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
The stems are deep purple and hairy.


2nd April 2014, Yarrow Valley Country Park, Adlington, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
Both white and pink flowers can sometimes be found. Leaves much like those of Wood Anemone but less pointed.


2nd April 2014, Yarrow Valley Country Park, Adlington, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
There are numerous stamens within, each terminating in pale-green flattened, oval anthers.


2nd April 2014, Yarrow Valley Country Park, Adlington, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
The anthers have cream coloured pollen around the edges. In the very centre is a large pale green ovary that will bear the seeds.


11th April 2014, a garden, Hollingworth, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
A less insect-eaten specimen.


11th April 2014, a garden, Hollingworth, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
The anthers in close-up with pollen scattered about the flower. Petals have several darker longitudinal veins.


2nd April 2014, Yarrow Valley Country Park, Adlington, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
Leaves trefoil(ish) with optional two much shorter outer lobes. These are new leaves on the as yet un-opened flower.


11th April 2014, a garden, Hollingworth, Lancs. Photo: © RWD
The flower apparently lacks sepals, but the blue 'petals' are in fact the sepals. Rear of 'petals' hairless, but stem hairy.


14th April 2014, a garden, Marple, Gtr M/cr. Photo: © RWD
It may look as if the leaves are 5-lobed, but the smallest apparent 'leaves' are actually con-joined to the the adjacent, albeit, only just. Un-opened flower buds droop groundwards and appear yellow-green. There are many cultivars of Blue Anemone, your Author does not know if any of these are.


Not to be semantically confused with : Balkan Spurge (Euphorbia elongata) [a plant with similar name but in a totally different family (Euphorbiaceae)]

Easily mis-identified as : Blue Anemone (Anemone apennina) but that has narrower petals (actually sepals) that are hairy underneath and the head of the ripe fruits are presented erect (rather than pendant of Balkan Anemone).

Many similarities to : Wood Anemone (Anemone nemerosa) but that has white flowers (sometimes suffused with a pale violet) and with cut trefoil leaves that are more pointed.

Superficial resemblance to : Pasque Flower (Pulsatilla vulgaris) [which is in the same Buttercup Family (Ranunculaceae)] but that, like Blue Anemone, has hairs on the back of the petals (= sepals).


  Anemone apennina  ⇐ Global Aspect ⇒ Ranunculaceae  

Distribution
 family8Buttercup family8Ranunculaceae
 BSBI maps
genus8Anemone
Anemone
(Anemones)

BALKAN ANEMONE

Anemone blanda

Buttercup Family [Ranunculaceae]