Rue-anemone, windflower

Anemone thalictroides Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 542. 1753; Anemonella thalictroides (Linnaeus) Spach; Syndesmon thalictroides (Linnaeus) Hoffmannsegg; Thalictrum anemonoides Michaux

Roots black, tuberous. Stems erect, scapose, 10-30 cm, glabrous. Leaves basal; petiole 10-30 cm. Leaf blade 2×-ternately compound; leaflets widely ovate or obovate to nearly rotund, apically 3-lobed, 8-30 mm wide, surfaces glabrous. Inflorescences umbels or flowers solitary, (1-)3-6-flowered; involucral bracts usually 3-foliolate, petiolate and opposite, or sessile with leaflets appearing to be whorls of 6 petiolate leaves, otherwise similar to basal leaves. Flowers: sepals not caducous, white to pinkish, showy, elliptic to obovate, 5-18 mm, longer than stamens; filaments narrowly clavate, 3-4 mm; anthers 0.4-0.7 mm. Achenes (4-)8-12(-15), short-stipitate; stipe 0.1-0.4 mm; body ovoid to fusiform, 3-4.5 mm, prominently 8-10-veined.

Flowering spring (Mar-Jun). Deciduous woods, banks, and thickets; 0-300 m; Ont.; Ala., Ark., Conn., Del., D.C., Fla., Ga., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., La., Maine, Mass., Mich., Minn., Miss., Mo., N.H., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Okla., Pa., R.I., S.C., Tenn., Vt., Va., W.Va., Wis.

In Thalictrum , T . thalictroides is unique in having umbelliform inflorescences and is therefore easy to identify. Based on this one distinction, many botanists still place it in the genus Anemonella . The leaflets, flowers, and fruits, however, are not unlike those of Thalictrum .

The Cherokee used infusions prepared from the roots of Thalictrum thalictroides to treat diarrhea and vomiting (D. E. Moerman 1986).