Two varieties of Oregon anemone or blue windflower are recognized in the Flora of North America: variety felix, with 60-75 stamens, is found in sphagnum bogs west of the Cascades in Washington and Oregon, while variety oregana (with 30-60 stamens) has a broader distribution, extending east across the Cascades and south into California. The latter variety is a species of "shaded, moist woods, open hillsides" (FNA), and indeed this is where I encountered it for the first time at the end of May, growing in a second-growth coniferous forest with an Acer circinatum understorey, with abundant Trillium ovatum and an occasional Prosartes. For those familiar with Gifford Pinchot National Forest, this was along the access road to the Guler Ice Caves.
Quoting from the Flora of North America, the etymology of the name Anemone is not definitively known. It is "probably Greek anemos, wind", but also "possibly from Naaman, Semitic name for Adonis, whose blood, according to myth, produced Anemone coronaria".
Exquisite photo. Thank you for this gentle start to the day.
Such a lovely, cooling image on this hot day!
exquisite little flower, and photo.
how delicate! what a world!
Beautiful photo, lovely delicate flower. I love the spray of white-tipped stamens against the blue petals. And the cob-webs. I can almost smell the surrounding forest.
The prosartes is also lovely.
Very beautiful -- and how nice to learn about the location where the flower blooms, named after our own Pennsylvania Governor Pinchot, [French pronunciation, silent "T"] an early forester and environmentalist. In his home state he's "only" got a state park named in his honor. Thanks.
Anemone - often said to be derived from Gr. anemos, wind, with which there is no evident connexion, but more likely a corrupted Greek loan word of Semetic origin referring to the lament for slain Adonis or Naaman, whose scattered blood produced the blood-red Anemone coronaria or Adonis. Stearn's Dictionary of Plant Names for Gardeners, William T. Stearn
Anemone, an-em-o-ne; from Gr. anemos, wind, and mone, a habitation, some species enjoying windy places, hence Windflower, the English name. Plant Names Simplified, Johnson and Smith
I love the beauty and delicacy of the anemone. They are my favourite flowers. Thank you, Daniel, for this photo and your informative write-up.
How lovely...
I love the blue flowers - too bad they won't grow in my Oklahoma climate!
I also love the spiderweb - a reminder that all our plants are hosts to "the little guys", bugs, spiders, etc.