Wood Anemone

One of the first flowers of spring, Wood Anemones bloom like a galaxy of stars across the forest floor.

As a species it’s surprisingly slow to spread (six feet in a hundred years!), relying on the growth of its root structure rather than the spread of its seed. As such, it is a good indicator of ancient woodland.

Did you know?

• Wood Anemone has a sharp, musky smell. This is hinted at in some old local names like ‘smell foxes’.
• Hoverflies are particularly fond of the Wood Anemone and help pollinate it. Other animals, however, will only eat it if nothing else is available, because of its acrid taste. It is poisonous to humans.
• The Chinese call it “the Flower of Death” because of its pale, ghostly appearance.
• Vernacular names include Windflower, Grandmother’s nightcap and Moggie nightgown. The latter is used in parts of Derbyshire where ‘moggie’ can mean mouse, not cat. Richard Mabey also reports on the delightful children’s mis-hearing, ‘wooden enemies’.
• Anemone and windflower are names originating in the famous Anemone coronaria of Greek legend.
• When the suburbs of London swept over the old county of Middlesex, some of its woods were bypassed and preserved. The Wood Anemone still blooms there to this day.
• It is the County Flower of Middlesex.
• In the Language of Flowers it symbolises brevity, expectation and forlornness.
• Some local names are not very innocent with the plant being linked to girls and their smocks and chemises, and with the wanton habits of cuckoos and with snakes (cf. the Cuckooflower).