It grows in the western regions of the country. Another name is anemone. The plant consists of three floors. The first floor is underground - it is a rhizome lying horizontally, very shallowly. A stalk grows upward from it, on which, forming a second floor, sit three heavily cut leaves, also located horizontally. Above there is a stalk again, and on it there is a third floor - one or two flowers. They are yellow, like buttercups. That is why this type of anemone is called buttercup.
Anemone blooms for only a few days. She loves light and tries to complete development before the forest turns into leaves. By the end of spring, the anemone fades, but the rhizome remains in the soil. Next spring a new plant will appear on it.
Another anemone also grows in the forest - the oak anemone. Her flowers are white. Every year it grows in a new place. The rhizome dies off at one end and grows at the other. It turns out that the anemone is slowly crawling underground.
The anemone will bloom, and it will seem that winter has returned and decorated everything around with large white snowflakes. But then the sky frowns, rain gathers, and the snowflake flowers immediately close, as if they will melt. And when the sun comes out, they will come to life again, open up and begin to nod their heads to the spring breeze.
So they call the anemone anemone because its flowers on thin stems sway even from a very weak wind. And even the second name of the plant also comes from the Greek word “anemos”, which means “wind”.
Anemones are poisonous. The poison is called anemonin.
The rhizome looks like a thin knotty twig. It is very malleable and poorly anchored in the ground. If you want to pick a flower, you pull the stem and pull out the rhizome along with it. If this happened, the plant died. It dies even when it was possible to tear off only one flowering stem with leaves. These are the peculiarities of the development of anemone: if the rhizome is left in the spring without the above-ground part, it cannot continue to exist. So sometimes you’ll think: should you pick a blooming anemone or not? Maybe it's better to leave it?
Forest anemone is a delicate, graceful flower that has several different types found in our country. It is listed in the Red Book and is quite rare in nature. Mostly found in the wild in places where humans rarely visit.
The name comes from the Russian translation of the Latin word Anemone: anemone belongs to the genus of anemones. This word originates from “anemos” - wind. There is an assumption that these flowers are named so because when there is a gust of wind, the petals close, as if hiding from the wind. Anemone is popularly called night blindness, and it is also a well-known snowdrop.
The plant blooms for the first time in the 6-9th year of its life. One flower lives from about a week to two. A total anemone can live from six to twelve years. The Red Book prohibits the collection of wild flowers of this species.
In Russia it grows up to the tundra zone. It can often be seen in the wild conditions of Siberia, both Western and Eastern. Also habitats are Yakutia, Amur region, the Caucasus and the Cis-Caucasian zone. Rarely, but can be found in the Smolensk region.
Types of anemones
In total, the genus anemone has approximately 120 plant species. They all grow in the Northern Hemisphere. The main difference between these species is the color of the petals. By the way, these plants are very decorative, unpretentious and widely grown by flower growers and gardeners. Many varieties of them have been artificially bred that are not found in nature. Among the species of natural origin, buttercup and oak anemone are especially common.
Description of species
Ranunculus anemone is a perennial flower that grows in forests and on hills. So named because of its resemblance to the common buttercup. It has a wide range, found throughout Europe, except the Mediterranean, and you will not see it in the British Isles. But it can be found in the taiga of Western Siberia and the Caucasus. It begins to bloom early - after 1-2 weeks after the snow melts and the sun warms up a little. The plant is perennial; its life can reach several decades due to its powerful root system. But this rhizome is located shallow underground, so in particularly frosty winters the flower often freezes out.
Buttercup anemone is rarely found in single specimens. More often this plant creates groups. Their flowering is short-lived - only 3-4 days. Then the petals fall off, and in their place small fruits with ripening seeds are formed. By the end of May, the plant is already drying and withering, and the seeds finally ripen and spill out onto the ground. By the beginning of summer, the buttercup anemone has already disappeared from the above-ground part of the soil; now, until next spring, its entire life will pass underground in succulent rhizomes. Such plants, whose most of their life is spent in root form, are called ephemeroids. In this way they gain strength and prepare for the next flowering and breeding season. On our website you can see a photo of the forest anemone.
Oak anemone is another very common plant species. From the name it is easy to assume that it is found near oak trees. It grows in warmer latitudes than buttercup. It is similar in appearance to the first type, but the flowers are larger and they are white. The oak anemone is the same famous snowdrop that is found in fairy tales.
Benefits of the plant
- A good honey plant. During its short flowering period, the common forest anemone provides bees with a sufficiently large amount of pollen. Anemone always has a single flower with a very large number of pistils and stamens in the calyx, which makes these plants ideal honey plants.
- It is used in pharmacy because it has some medicinal properties. At the same time, the plants are poisonous.
Growing conditions
Their attractiveness for artificial cultivation lies in the beauty of the flower, long flowering period, unpretentiousness and early flowering. When all the other plants are just waking up, the anemone is already giving away its beauty with all its might. Another advantage is that the plant is truly perennial and, with proper care, will delight its owner, guests and passers-by for ten or even more years.
In addition, it is very resistant to pests and various diseases. Due to the fact that the plant is poisonous, it is not to the taste of various insects and harmful bugs.
Anemone loves light areas; sandy soil is required. In nature, its scattered distribution is characteristic. If the forest anemone is bred artificially, then, as a rule, it blooms in 2-3 years of life. Its double species have been developed - larger and brighter colors than natural ones.
Common colors:
- yellow;
- white;
- pink;
- red;
- purple;
- lilac.
Other beautiful shades of anemone have also been artificially bred. Moreover, the decorative nature of the plant also lies in the fact that the outer part of the petals is of the usual contrasting shade.
Anemone of the forest variety feels good in the shade, does not tolerate the scorching rays of the sun, so it needs to be shaded. For artificial propagation, it is better to plant this flower under the spreading and wide crowns of garden trees, where the delicate petals of the anemone will be provided with sufficient shade.
The anemone's need for watering is quite moderate. But the soil needs good drainage. It will not do well in stagnant soils. The soil needs to have a sufficient sand content and should be quite loose with a good percentage of useful substances.
Another advantage of growing anemones in our latitudes is that the plant tolerates cold well. True forest anemone will require shelter for its root system only in very severe frosts. The exception is crown anemone, one of the species that is heat-loving and can only be grown in the south.
To propagate the plant, it is important to sow fresh seeds; those that have been lying around for a long time are no longer suitable. Under artificial conditions, they are often propagated vegetatively - by dividing tubers, petioles and rhizomes. At the same time, it is important to carry out division and reproduction work during the period when the flower is resting, this is August and September. Under no circumstances should it be used during flowering.
Medicinal use
For medicinal purposes, the plant stem and leaves are used - the part that is above the ground. The rhizome has no medical value. Medicinal properties:
- Wood anemone is used as an antiseptic.
- Reduces inflammation.
- Removes and minimizes various pain sensations.
- Quickly removes fluid from the body, having powerful diuretic and diaphoretic properties.
In folk medicine it is widely used:
- For the treatment of vision.
- Removes migraine.
- Eliminates colds and accompanying symptoms: cough, runny nose, sore throat, high temperature.
- Helps with diseases of the digestive system and gastrointestinal tract.
- Treats some infectious diseases, including sexually transmitted diseases: gonorrhea, candidiasis.
- There are cases where the use of anemone as a medicine helped with partial paralysis.
- Anemone helps with impotence.
- It draws out pus well from abscesses and boils, while disinfecting the wound.
When using anemone as a medicine, you must remember that the plant is poisonous, so the correct dosage and exposure time are very important.
An amazing group of plants - oak forest ephemeroids - find shelter in oak forests. The term “ephemeroids” comes from the word “ephemeral”, which means short-lived, soon passing. Indeed, these plants develop very quickly.
Anemone (Anemone nanunculoides) belongs to such plants. In autumn, you can find the original rhizome of this plant in the soil or on its surface. It is thinner than a pencil - like a twisted, knotty knot of a brownish color, with thin “constrictions” here and there. If you break such a “knot”, it is white and starchy inside, almost like a potato tuber. This is the plant’s “pantry” with a large supply of food. The end of the rhizome is pointed and white. There is a bud here, and in it there is the rudiment of the stem, leaves and flower. In this form the rhizome overwinters.
The bud is “impatient” - it begins to bloom already under the snow. And as soon as the snow melts, a stalk quickly appears. At first it is small and curved like a hook, and then it lengthens and straightens. Three leaves unfold at its top. They are strongly dissected and star-shaped. A single yellow flower grows on a thin stalk above the leaves. It is very similar to the buttercup flower (hence the species name of our plant).
This whole process - from the appearance of the stem to flowering - takes very little time: in warm weather - no more than a week and a half. Flowering is also occurring at an accelerated pace. The petals fall off pretty soon, and a small “hedgehog” remains on the peduncle - a bunch of small green fruits, exactly like those of a buttercup.
When the anemone blooms, forest trees and shrubs are still bare in winter or are just beginning to bloom. At this time there is a lot of light in the forest, almost like in an open place.
But then the trees turn into leaves, and the forest becomes dark. By this time, the development of the anemone ends. It begins to turn yellow, the stem with leaves withers and falls to the ground. At the beginning of summer, no traces of the plant remain. It was as if he had never existed at all. But the plant did not die. Its rhizome is “hidden” in the soil and is patiently “waiting” for next spring. Spring will come, and everything will happen again.
One cannot help but be surprised at the speed of development of anemone. In a few weeks, the plant not only manages to grow, but even to bloom and bear fruit. Why such a “rush?” Yes, because the time when the forest stands without leaves, when there is enough light under the trees and there are conditions for normal development, is too short. The way of life of the anemone is such that it can be called an invisible plant. She is born only for a few weeks a year, and the rest of the time she “sits out” in the ground.
In addition to anemone, several other plants with a similar type of development are found in oak forests. Moreover, all of them, like the anemone, are “thrifty.” Under the ground, everyone must have a “pantry” - a rhizome, tuber or onion. This is where “building materials” are stored, which are necessary for rapid growth in the spring.
Oak forest ephemeroids also include spring clear with yellow flowers and interesting clusters of small nodules in the soil (like a bunch of tiny, very elongated potatoes), corydalis with lilac flowers and a small spherical nodule underground, goose onions with yellow “star” flowers and others.
Since ancient times, the forest has helped people. In the forest, a person can always take material for housing construction - mighty logs from which beautiful houses are built. In the forest, people also get fuel for heating during the cold season - the forest regularly supplies people with firewood. And, of course, the forest gives people a lot of different food. Every summer people flock to the forest to stock up on mushrooms and berries. But our forests are not only rich in this. They give people beauty. For example, the beauty of forest flowers, which surprise us with their bright colors from early spring to late autumn. What flowers can be found in the forest?
Pereleska
Already in early spring, when the snow has not yet melted everywhere, the first snowdrops appear in forest clearings. Snowdrops are all primroses that begin to bloom without waiting for the snow to melt. Such primroses also include coppice. Its bright blue flowers peek cheerfully out of the last, dull snowdrifts.
Anemone
Another primrose can be seen under forest bushes. White flowers that sway in the wind on their thin stems are called anemones. Like sunflowers, they turn their flowers after the sun, trying to catch every ray.
Lungwort
This spring flower can easily be found where bumblebees are buzzing busily. It contains a lot of nectar, which bumblebees and bees like, which is why this flower was nicknamed lungwort. The flowers of this plant change color as they grow. At first they are pink, then they turn purple, and finally they turn bright blue.
Key rams
This primrose flower received such a funny name because its leaves are covered with soft fluff, reminiscent of lamb's fur. The bright yellow flowers of this plant are clustered together on a stem and resemble a set of keys from a distance. So we got a funny name for the flower - key rams.
Lilies of the valley
The most graceful forest flower is the lily of the valley. On its long stem, it looked like someone had hung small white lanterns in clusters. This flower has only two leaves, they are long and sharp. For this, the lily of the valley received a second name among the people - “rabbit ears”.
Ivan-da-Marya
There are plants in the forest that have become characters in folk tales. Once a guy and a girl, Ivan and Marya, got into a thunderstorm. And Ivan covered Marya from the rain and lightning. And so a plant appeared in that place, the leaves of which covered the flower, as if the guy was protecting the girl from the weather. That’s what they call him – “Ivan-da-Marya”.
Touch-me-not
This very timid plant has an interesting feature. It is enough to touch its fruits, which look like small pods, and they explode and scatter seeds around themselves. It is not so easy to notice impatiens; this plant grows where there is a lot of shade and dampness.
Useful properties of forest flowers
Forest flowers not only give people their beauty. Many of them are also medicinal plants. For example, lily of the valley berries (which, by the way, are poisonous) are used to make medicines to treat heart disease. And “Ivan da Marya” is used in folk medicine to heal wounds.
Forest plants bring a lot of joy and benefit to humans. And they should be treated with care and respect.
Genus Anemone Family Ranunculaceae
Forest anemone (anemone)
Forest anemone (anemone)(Anemone sylvestris L.). In early spring, on the edges, meadow slopes, and steppes, you can find this delicate early flowering plant with a single erect stem 10-20 cm tall and a shallow, articulated rhizome with an unusually white flower (3.5-7 cm in diameter), which sways with every breath of wind. .
Three leaves are collected into a single whorl at the top of the stem. They are palmately dissected into 3-5 oblong lobes, serrated along the edges, 3-7 cm long. Because of their friendship with the wind, these plants are often called anemones. The wind sways the stems and leaves of anemones, making them flexible and hardy. And in the summer, after the seeds ripen, their corollas are so disturbed that the fruits open and scatter 10-15 m from the mother plant.
It is important! Anemone - a poisonous plant- contains the alkaloid anemonol. When this alkaloid is broken down, anemonin is released - an analgesic and antispasmodic substance that also acts on the heart. Forest anemone is listed in (rarity status category III - rare species). Economic use of territories, collection in bouquets, digging up rhizomes for garden plots are the reasons for the decline in the number of this species.Forest anemone Description and difference from related species. (from the Red Book)
The stems are erect, white-hairy at the top. The basal leaves are long-petiolate, 2-6 in number, pubescent with soft long hairs, 3-5 dissected with rhombic segments, less than half sharply 3-slit serrated lobes; covered with adjacent hairs, scattered above, dense below. The leaves of the spathe are 3, usually located above the middle of the stem, on petioles 1-2 cm long, 3 are dissected; their segments are sessile, narrowly obovate in outline with a wedge-shaped base and a sharp apex, lateral 2-partite with lobes, like the middle segment, and with lobes bearing large ones at the apex, b. including sharp teeth.
Peduncles are solitary, long, densely appressed and hairy. There are 5 tepals, pure white or slightly purple on the underside; stamens shorter than tepals, yellow; pistils are ovate-rounded. The fruits are numerous, small, flattened, densely matted white tomentose, with a short nose.
WITH.; Ts.; 3.; V. (except for the Lower Volga); K.. - General (distribution: Caucasus: Ciscaucasia, Dag.; West. From East Siberian.; Far. East.; Middle Asia; Scand.. Middle South. Heur.; Mong. - In the Belgorod region: Korochansky (environment), Novooskolsky (“Khanova beam”), (Yablonovo, Pogromets). Belgorodsky (Solomino. Sosnovka), Gubkinsky (), Shebekinsky (Novo-Tavolzhanka), Starskolsky (ur. “Gornyashka”). , Borisovsky, (Mountain-Podol).
Ranunculus anemone
Ranunculus anemone(Anemone ranunculoides L.) is found in all types of forests, on the edges, in thickets of bushes, less often in open places, where it gravitates to the banks of rivers, streams and temporary watercourses. A perennial with an underground horizontal, usually branched rhizome. The flowers are yellow. There are usually 1-2 flower stalks, rarely 3-5. Blooms in April-May. Propagated by seeds and vegetatively. Based on its role in the life of the forest, the buttercup anemone can be considered a seasonal dominant. The plant does not grow well together with grasses and sedges, but gets along well with honey and green grass.
It is important! Infusion of anemone leaves Buttercup is used for stomach pain, whooping cough, gout, dropsy, paralysis, and also as a means of enhancing the activity of the kidneys and lungs.
Anemone oak forest
Anemone oak grove is a herbaceous plant with a fleshy rhizome and a single long-petioled leaf. Stems are erect, glabrous or sparsely hairy, with a whorl of three leaves on long thin petioles 1-2 cm in length, the plates of which are dissected into three oblong segments, of which the lateral ones are 2-partite, the middle one is 3-incised, with an entire wedge-shaped base and incised serrated lobules and lobes.
Peduncles are solitary, long, appressed and hairy. The flowers are 4-4.5 cm in diameter, consist of a simple (6-8 tepals) perianth, oblong-ovate white or reddish-violet on the outside, occasionally entirely reddish-violet, bare on both sides, numerous stamens and pistils.
The stamens are many times shorter than the tepals; anthers yellow. Fruitlets are 4-4.5 mm long, oblong, short-hairy, with a short curved nose. The difference from the forest anemone (A. sylvestris L.) is that the latter has a short rhizome and at the base of the stem there are several leaves (basal), similar to the stem ones. The leaves are palmate, 5-lobed, petiolate, with rhombic, incised lobes. The stem is white and woolly at the top (like the fruits). Perianth b.h. of 5 elliptical, fluffy leaves on the outside
Anemone oak forest usually grows in deciduous forests. Its single peduncles bear one white flower with a purple tint on the outer side of the petals, 2-6 cm in diameter.
Distribution and occurrence. S. (Car.Lapl.; Dv.-Pech.); Ts. (Lad.-Ilm.; Verkh.-Dnieper.; Verkh.-Volzh.; Volzh.-Kam.; Volzh.-Don.); 3. (Dnieper). - General distribution: Atl., Middle, Heur., Middle. - In the Belgorod region: (Khanova beam), (Shopino), (Solomino, Peski), (Novo-Tavolzhanka).
This is interesting! The Latin name of the genus Anemone means daughter of the winds. We might never have known the sad story of Romeo and Juliet if Shakespeare had not met the famous botanist Jellal at one time. Gerard was fond of breeding buttercups and argued that “the poisons of buttercups are not at all dangerous, and if you skillfully use their power, then the poisons can be turned to your advantage.”
Therefore, in Shakespeare, this is exactly what the pharmacist Lorenzo does when Juliet turns to him for help - he gives her a potion, from which the girl plunges into a deep sleep, which her family and friends take for death. They say that anemones grew from the tears shed by the goddess Aphrodite after her death her beloved Adonis.
Attention! Anemone leaves poisonous and have narcotic properties. In this regard, their use for medicinal purposes requires great caution and mandatory medical supervision!
