Description: This native perennial plant is up to 1' tall, branching sparingly. It produces both basal and alternate compound leaves with a similar appearance. The stems are reddish green, hairless, and slender. The compound leaves are trifoliate and they have slender petioles. The terminal leaflet has a longer petiolule (a stalk at its base) than the two lateral leaflets. These leaflets are up to 1" long and ¾" across. They are ternately lobed, cleft, and hairless.
The white flowers occur individually or
in groups of 2-3. Each flower spans about ¾" across, consisting of 5
petal-like sepals that are white, no petals, several slender stamens with
yellow anthers, and a few green pistils in the center. The blooming period
occurs during mid-spring and lasts about 3 weeks. Each fertilized pistil is
replaced by a beaked follicle (seedpod that splits open along one side) that
contains several seeds. The root system is fibrous and occasionally small
tubers are produced. Vegetative clones of the mother plant are often produced
from these tubers; reproduction also occurs by the seeds. False Rue Anemone
often forms dense colonies of plants.
Cultivation: The preference is partial sun to medium
shade, slightly moist to mesic conditions, and a rich loamy soil with abundant
leaf mould.
Range & Habitat:
False Rue Anemone is fairly common in the majority of counties of Illinois,
otherwise it is uncommon or absent (see
Distribution
Map). It typically occurs in mesic deciduous woodlands as one of the spring
wildflowers. This species can be extirpated from a woodlands by an invasion of
Alliaria petiolata (Garlic Mustard).
Faunal Associations: Except for visitors of the
flowers, little is known about the floral-faunal relations of this species. The
nectar of the flowers attract small bees and flies primarily, including
Halictid bees, Andrenid bees, Little Carpenter bees, Syrphid flies,
Bombylius major (Giant Bee Fly), and other flies. Some of the bees
collect pollen, while some of the flies feed on pollen. Occasionally various
beetles feed on the pollen, but they are less effective at
pollination.
Photographic Location:
A mesic deciduous woodlands at Busey Woods in Urbana, Illinois.
Comments: Another scientific name for False Rue
Anemone is Isopyrum biternatum. This species blooms a little earlier
than many other spring wildflowers in a woodlands, and it has attractive
flowers and foliage. Two other members of the Buttercup family that occur in
woodlands, Anemone quinequefolia (Wood Anemone) and Anemonella
thalictroides (Rue Anemone), resemble False Rue Anemone. Wood Anemone has
leaflets that are coarsely serrated along the margins and their lobes taper to
sharp points; it also differs from False Rule Anemone by the whorl of leaves
underneath the flowers. Rue Anemone also has whorled leaves underneath the
flowers, otherwise its foliage is very similar to that of False Rue Anemone
(which has alternate leaves along the stems). While Wood Anemone and Rue
Anemone produce small clusters of beaked achenes (each containing a single seed
within a hardened exterior), False Rue Anemone produces small clusters of
beaked follicles that each contain 2 or more seeds. Sometimes the white flowers
of Wood Anemone and Rue Anemone have more than 5 petal-like sepals, while the
flowers of False Rue Anemone never have more than 5 petal-like
sepals.