tall thimbleweed

(Anemone virginiana var. virginiana)

Conservation Status

 

No image available

 
  IUCN Red List not listed      
  NatureServe

N5 - Secure

SNR - Unranked

     
  Minnesota not listed      
           
Wetland Indicator Status
     
  Great Plains

FACU - Facultative upland

     
  Midwest

FACU - Facultative upland

     
  Northcentral & Northeast

FACU - Facultative upland

     
           
 
Description
 
 

Tall thimbleweed (var. virginiana) is a common and widespread summer wildflower. It occurs in the United States from Maine to Georgia, west to North Dakota and Oklahoma, and in adjacent Canadian provinces. It is common in Minnesota. It is found in open upland woodlands, upland prairies, savannas, and thickets; on riverbanks, rocky stream banks, and roadsides; and in open disturbed areas. It grows under full or partial sun in dry soil.

Tall thimbleweed (var. virginiana) is an erect, perennial, 12 to 27 (30 to 100 cm) tall forb rising on basal leaves and a single stem from a stout, short, ascending to vertical caudex.

A whorl of 1 to 5 basal leaves rises from the ground at the top of the caudex. Each basal leaf is on a 2 to 13¾ (5 to 35 cm) long leaf stalk (petiole). The petiole is often purplish and is shallowly grooved above. The leaf blade is broadly inversely egg-shaped in outline and is divided into three leaflets. The terminal leaflet is unstalked or nearly unstalked, inversely egg-shaped or inversely lance-shaped in outline, ¾ to 3½ (3 to 9 cm) long, and ¾ to 2 (2 to 5 cm) wide, sometimes larger. It is wedge-shaped to broadly wedge-shaped at the base and is often cut at the tip into 3 lobes. The lobes may be shallow or deep, and often have secondary lobes. The ultimate lobes are sharply pointed. The upper and lower surfaces are covered with long, soft, straight hairs, more so on the lower surface. The margins are coarsely toothed with sharp, forward pointing teeth. The lateral leaflets are similar but sometimes deeply divided into 2 segments, causing the leaf blade to appear at first inspection to be divided into 4 or 5 segments.

A single flowering stem rises from the caudex at the base of the whorl of leaves. The stem is covered with scattered white hairs and is usually unbranched below the inflorescence. At the top of the stem there are two or three pairs of opposite whorls of inflorescence leaves (bracts). Each whorl has 3 or 4 bracts (together called an involucre). The bracts are conspicuously stalked and are similar to the basal leaves but are smaller. The base of each bract is heart-shaped or kidney-shaped, rarely straight across (truncate). The margins are coarsely toothed on the upper half and sometimes also lobed. The terminal leaflet is light green, elliptic to inversely lance-shaped, ¾ to 4 (2 to 10 cm) long, and ¾ to 2 (2 to 5 cm) wide. It is wedge-shaped at the base and sharply pointed at the tip. The margins of the terminal leaflet are straight or convex and untoothed on the lower half.

A long stalk (peduncle) with a single flower rises from the upper axil of some of the bracts. Each peduncle is 4 to 12 long, unbranched, and moderately to densely covered with long, soft, shaggy, unmatted hairs. A secondary involucre on each peduncle appears at least 4¼ (11 cm) below the flower. The bracts of the secondary involucre are much smaller. The terminal leaflet is no more than ¾ (2 cm) in length.

The inflorescence is a single flower at the end of each peduncle. Each flower is ¾ to 1 (20 to 25 mm) in diameter. There are no petals, usually 5 sepals, and 50 to 70 stamens. At the center of the flower there is a dense cluster of green pistils. The sepals are petal-like, oblong to egg-shaped or inversely egg-shaped, white or greenish-white, ¼ to ¾ (6.5 to 20 mm) long, and to (2.5 to 10 mm) wide. They are thinly hairy on the outside, hairless or nearly hairless inside. The stamens form a ring around the base of the cluster of pistils. The anthers are yellow and 132 to 116 (1.0 to 1.7 mm) long. They turn light brown after shedding pollen.

The infructescence is a dense, cylinder-shaped fruiting head. The cluster of pistils elongates, becoming ½ to 1 (12 to 28 mm) long and 716 to 916 (11 to 14 mm) in diameter. Its shape resembles a thimble. This is the feature that gives the species its common name. The “thimble” is less than twice as long as wide. It appears very prickly.

The fruit is an egg-shaped to egg cylinder-shaped, 116 to (2.0 to 3.7 mm) long seed capsule (achene). Dense woolly hairs conceal only the lower half of the achene. When the achenes mature in the fall the fruiting head appears cottony and remains so all winter.

 
     
 

Height

 
 

12 to 40 (30 to 100 cm)

 
     
 

Flower Color

 
 

White

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
 

River anemone (Anemone virginiana var. alba) involucral bracts are usually truncate at the base, sometimes heart-shaped or kidney-shaped. The terminal leaflet is dark green. The margins of the terminal leaflet are concave to straight on the lower half. The fruiting head is smaller, 516 to (8 to 10 mm) in diameter.

Tall thimbleweed (Anemone virginiana var. cylindroidea) involucral bracts are more or less light green. The flowers are much smaller. The sepals are (5 to 10 mm) long and are densely tomentose. The anthers are shorter, no more than 132 (1.2 mm) long. The fruiting head is smaller, ¼ to 716 (7 to 11 mm) in diameter.

 
     
 
Habitat
 
 

Moderately moist to dry. Open upland woodlands, upland prairies, savannas, thickets, riverbanks, rocky stream banks, roadsides, and open disturbed areas. Full or partial sun.

 
     
 
Ecology
 
 

Flowering

 
 

June to August

 
     
 

Pests and Diseases

 
 

 

 
     
 
Use
 
 

Toxicity

 
 

Skin contact with the sap causes inflammation and blistering. Eating will cause severe pain in the mouth, vomiting, and diarrhea, but it is not fatal unless taken in large quantities.

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

4, 28, 29, 30.

 
  5/31/2022      
         
 

Nativity

 
 

Native

 
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

Common and widespread

 
         
 
Taxonomy
 
  Kingdom Plantae (green algae and land plants)  
  Subkingdom Viridiplantae (green plants)  
  Infrakingdom Streptophyta (land plants and green algae)  
  Superdivision Embryophyta (land plants)  
  Division Tracheophyta (vascular plants)  
  Subdivision Spermatophytina (seed plants)  
  Class Magnoliopsida (flowering plants)  
  Superorder Ranunculanae  
 

Order

Ranunculales (buttercups, poppies, and allies)  
 

Family

Ranunculaceae (buttercup)  
  Subfamily Ranunculoideae (anemones, buttercups, larkspurs and allies)  
  Tribe Anemoneae (anemones and allies)  
 

Genus

Anemone (anemones and thimbleweeds)  
  Species Anemone virginiana (tall thimbleweed)  
       
 

Synonyms

 
     
       
 

Common Names

 
 

tall anemone

tall thimbleweed

Virginia anemone

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Achene

A dry, one-chambered, single-seeded fruit, formed from a single carpel, with the seed attached to the membranous outer layer (wall) only by the seed stalk; the wall, formed entirely from the wall of the superior ovary, does not split open at maturity, but relies on decay or predation to release the contents.

 

Bract

Modified leaf at the base of a flower stalk, flower cluster, or inflorescence.

 

Caudex

A short, thickened, woody, persistent enlargement of the stem, at or below ground level, used for water storage.

 

Involucre

A whorl of bracts beneath or surrounding a flower or flower cluster.

 

Peduncle

In angiosperms, the stalk of a single flower or a flower cluster; in club mosses, the stalk of a strobilus or a group of strobili.

 

Petiole

On plants: The stalk of a leaf blade or a compound leaf that attaches it to the stem. On ants and wasps: The constricted first one or two segments of the rear part of the body.

 

Sepal

An outer floral leaf, usually green but sometimes colored, at the base of a flower.

 

Tomentose

Densely covered with short, soft, matted or tangled, woolly, usually white or silvery hairs.

 

Truncate

Terminating abruptly as if cut off, as with a leaf base.

 
 
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