Anemone ranunculoides AGM

Yellow Wood Anemone Ranunculaceae

The yellow-flowered cousin of our familiar Wood Anemone, and one that looks as though someone has sneaked a buttercup into the woodland floor. Anemone ranunculoides makes low colonies from slender, creeping rhizomes, with deeply divided foliage and shining golden-yellow flowers, usually with five or six petal-like sepals. The flowers are typically 2–2.5 cm across and can occasionally occur in pairs. 

The species is native across much of Europe eastwards to western Siberia and the Caucasus, occurring particularly in moist deciduous woodland and other damp, shaded habitats. It flowers early, before the woodland canopy closes, and then retreats underground for summer — making it an excellent naturalising plant beneath deciduous trees. 

The name ranunculoides means ‘resembling a Ranunculus’, an entirely sensible bit of botanical labelling when you see those glossy yellow flowers. Indeed, the resemblance caused some confusion among early botanists, who weren’t always certain whether the plant belonged with the buttercups or the anemones. Linnaeus settled the matter by publishing Anemone ranunculoides in Species Plantarum in 1753. 

Give it moist, humus-rich, well-drained soil in partial or deciduous shade. It is remarkably hardy and will tolerate some summer dryness once dormant. Like A. nemorosa, it spreads by rhizomes and is best allowed to naturalise rather than being treated as a precious little border specimen. 

H6 –15 to –20°C
Height: 10–20 cm
Spread: 30–50 cm
Flowers: March–April
Soil: Moist, humus-rich and well drained
Aspect: Partial or deciduous shade
Flowers: Brilliant golden yellow
Habit: Rhizomatous, gradually forming colonies