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Sharp-lobed hepatica is an early-blooming, woodland wildflower with distinctive 3-lobed, superficially palmate, variegated basal leaves on long petioles. The flowers are 1" across, borne on naked, reddish, hairy stalks ~4" long. Flowers consists of 5-11 (typically 6) blue, white, or lavender, oblong petals (actually, sepals), copious white stamens, and numerous green carpels; behind the flower are 3 reddish, hairy bracts shorter than the petals. ITIS considers Hepatica acutiloba a junior synonym of Anemone acutiloba; the USDA Plants Database, IUCN Red List, and NatureServe Explorer considers H. acutiloba as a junior synonym of Hepatica nobilis. All agree it is "sharplobed hepatica." The roundlobed hepatica (which is either a variety of sharplobed hepatica or a separate species, depending on which authority you prefer) is identical except that the lobes on the leaves are smoothly rounded.

Anemone

Anemone acutiloba

sharp-lobed hepatica [Blooms: Apr]

The petals (actually, sepals) of Canada anemone flowers are rounded; the pistillate cone in the center of the flower is approximately hemispherical and less than 10% of the flower width. The fruit is a round cluster of flattened seeds. The five-lobed leaves of Canada anemone are superficially similar to those of wild geranium (Geranium maculatum) but are sessile, not borne on petioles. Canada anemone is the commonest flower in Jackson Park in the late spring and summer.

Anemone

Anemone canadensis

Canada anemone [Blooms: May–Oct]

Thmbleweed flowers are borne on long (1-2') stalks; each flower is about 3/4" across with 5 pointed white petals-like sepals that often remain partially closed; the green pistillate cone in the center of the flower is about twice as long as it is wide (i.e., a tall gumdrop) ~20% of the flower diameter. A. canadensis may also have pointed petals, but the cone in the center of the flower is hemispherical (a short gumdrop). Thimbleweed (A. cylindrica) is best distinguished from tall anemone (A. virginiana) by the shape of the leaflets — A. cylindrica has leaflets with a wedge-shaped base with the lobes radiating out from the base, while A. virginiana has a rounded leaflet base with toothed distal margins.

Anemone

Anemone cylindrica

thimbleweed [Blooms: Jun-Jul]

Wood anemone produces slender green, hairy stems that bear either alternate leaves or (more typically) a whorl of three compound leaves at the apex of the stem; the 5 cm tall flower stalk arises from the center of the whorl. The flower stalks each bear a single white (sometimes pink) flower 1" across with 4-9 petal-like sepals and 30-60 stamens with white anthers surrounding numerous simple pistils.

Anemone

Anemone quinquefolia

wood anemone [Blooms: Apr–May]

Tall anemones have leaves on long petioles (like A. cylindrica). The petals (actually, sepals) of the flowers are pointed (like A. cylindrica); the pistillate cone in the center of the flower is approximately hemispherical and >1/3" across, about 20% of flower diameter. Thimbleweed (A. cylindrica) is best distinguished from tall anemone (A. virginiana) by the shape of the leaflets — A. cylindrica has leaflets with a wedge-shaped base with the lobes radiating out from the base while A. virginiana has a rounded leaflet base with toothed distal margins.

Anemone

Anemone virginiana

tall anemone [Blooms: Jun–?]