Anemonastrum Holub; Anemonidium (Spach) Holub; Anemonoides Miller; Arsenjevia Starodubtzev; Eriocapitella Nakai.

Herbs perennial, rhizomatous. Leaves all basal, simple, palmate, ternate, or pinnate, sometimes reduced and scalelike, rarely absent. Scape erect or ascending; inflorescences cymose, sometimes umbellate. Bracts (2 or)3 or more, forming an involucre. Flowers actinomorphic. Sepals (4 or)5 or more, petaloid, white, yellow, blue, or purple. Petals absent. Stamens usually numerous, filiform or linear. Pistils several to numerous; ovary with 1 pendent ovule; style present or absent; stigma present or absent. Achenes ovoid or subglobose, rarely strongly bilaterally compressed.

Anemone nutantiflora W. T. Wang & L. Q. Li (Acta Bot. Yunnan. 8: 265. 1986) was described from W Yunnan (Lushui Xian: Pianma), where it grows in bamboo thickets at ca. 3200 m. The flowers are unknown, but the fruiting pedicels are pendent. The exact placement of this taxon is problematic because of the lack of floral data. There is no reason to include it into A. narcissiflora because that species always has glabrous achenes (sometimes with solitary hairs), whereas A. nutantiflora is reported to have villous achenes. Further collections are needed.

The identities of the taxa to which the following names apply could not be ascertained. All were described from China, but none of the types has been seen by the present authors: Anemone robustostylosa R. H. Miao (Acta Sci. Nat. Univ. Sunyatseni 32(4): 56. 1993), described from Guangxi, and A. wilsonii Ulbrich (Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 36(Beibl. 80): 2. 1905, not Hemsley, 1906), described from W Hubei as a hybrid between A. altaica and A. baicalensis .

About 150 species: widespread on all continents except Antarctica, mainly in N temperate regions; 53 species (22 endemic) in China.

(Authors: Wang Wencai; Svetlana N. Ziman, Bryan E. Dutton)