rue anemone

Early Saxifrage Blooms on Woodland Hillsides

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The Middle Ridge Trail at Little Buffalo State Park is marked with red blazes. It’s a difficult trail because of the steep terrain in some places.

Fewer people travel this path as noted by the width of the trail. Perhaps that’s because the level of difficulty or the fact this area of the park is open to hunting. Maybe it’s location on the north side of the park is too far from the popular Day Use Area. That’s too bad as one wild flower blooms here that many people may not get to see elsewhere in the park – Early Saxifrage, Saxifraga virginiensis.

West end of the Middle Ridge Trail at Little Buffalo State Park.
West end of the Middle Ridge Trail at Little Buffalo State Park in Newport, PA.

Early saxifrage was plentiful on the west end of the Middle Ridge Trail.

Lots of Early Saxifrage on the Middle Ridge Trail.
Lots of Early Saxifrage on the Middle Ridge Trail.

Nearly all the white flowers on the west-facing slope in the image above are Early Saxifrage.

Star-like blossoms of early saxifrage.
Star-like blossoms of early saxifrage.

Clusters of early saxifrage flowers have a star-like appearance.

The upper left cluster in the image above shows the branching of the flower cluster and the woolly flower stem. The flower stalks may reach 10 to 16 inches tall.

Leaves of early saxifrage are mostly basal ones. Very small lance-like stem leaves may or may not be present. The oval basal leaves have scalloped edges. In the image below you can see the flower stalks rising up from the group of basal leaves.

Scalloped basal leaves of early saxifrage.
Scalloped basal leaves of early saxifrage.

Note that the flower stalks are hairy or fuzzy with hairs.

Flowers of early saxifrage occur in clusters at the top of the flower stem. The five-petaled white flowers are small, only a quarter-inch in width. Small yellow-tipped stamens are visible inside the flower heads.

Flowers of early saxifrage on flower stalk.
Flowers of early saxifrage on flower stalk.

Blossoms are at the tip of the flower stalk that rises up from the basal leaves. Note in the image above that there is one stem leaf at the point where a secondary flower stem branches from the main flower stem.

Besides the western end of Middle Ridge Trail at Little Buffalo State Park, we’ve seen Early Saxifrage on wooded hillsides along country roads.

Cohorts included blooming spring beauty, rue anemone, fairy wings, ferns and hepatica (already bloomed).

Spring beauty and early saxifrage blooming together.
Spring beauty and early saxifrage blooming together.

Spring beauty was blooming at the same time and place as Early Saxifrage.

Early saxifrage and rue anemone blooming at the same time.
Early saxifrage and rue anemone blooming at the same time.

Rue anemone was blooming at the same time and place as Early Saxifrage.

Early Saxifrage bloomed at least from the 15th to the 23rd of April in south-central Pennsylvania.

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Rue Anemone Windflower Flowers in the Woodlands

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The Rue Anemone, or Windflower, Anemonella thalictroides, is one of the Spring Ephemeral flowers that live in woodlands in Pennsylvania. Their bright white flowers are quite noticeable on the forest floor.

Rue Anemone flowering on the forest floor.
Rue Anemone flowering on the forest floor.

Bright white flowers of rue anemone are stunning against the browns of the oak leaves.

Flowers sit at the top of a single stem 6 to 10 inches tall. Six to ten white petals encircle bright yellow-green stamens. The Audubon Guide on Wildflowers tells us that the petals are missing, so the white “petals” are actually sepals. The stamens are numerous.

Bright white flowers of rue anemone, the windflower.
Bright white flowers of rue anemone, the windflower.

White flowers of rue anemone easily sway in the wind, thus the nickname Windflower. Note in the upper center of the image above that a flower has already lost its petals as the developing seed head is noticeable.

Pretty windflowers blooming.
Pretty windflowers blooming.

Rue anemone has been flowering since at least 5Apr2010, when the above photograph was taken in the woods near Edgar’s Creek.

Apparently a common spring ephemeral, rue anemone is found flowering in oak-maple-hickory forests in April in Pennsylvania. This year we’ve seen rue anemone flowering in different areas for the whole month of April, but an individual flower may last little more than a week.

Another image of rue anemone flowering in the woods along the Middle Ridge Trail of Little Buffalo State Park, Newport, PA.

Rue anemone flowers and leaves on Middle Ridge Trail.
Rue anemone flowers and leaves on Middle Ridge Trail.

Above are three flowering rue anemone plants on a hillside in the woods. Blooming cohorts include early saxifrage, spring beauty and fairy wings. In the image above note the spent flower and the maroon, Round-Leaved Hepatica leaves in the lower right.

The flowers of rue anemone are held above a whorl of leaves with three or more rounded lobes. Basal leaves on long stalks are compound with three leaflets having three rounded lobes.

Basal leaves of rue anemone.
Basal leaves of rue anemone.

In the image above you can see the long-stalked, compound basal leaf with three groups each having three leaflets. There are six larger leaves in the whorl that the flowers emanate from. The flowers and whorled leaves arise from the same point, about an inch or two below the flowers.

Rue Anemone was still flowering in places along the Mill Race Trail and around the Day Use Area of Little Buffalo State Park, and along the country roads we took to get there on 30Apr2010. (Photos taken 18Apr2010.)