Consider-the-Lilies Web Gallery
Thimbleweed
This mid-to late-summer bloomer, a member of the Buttercup family, was found growing in a dry, rocky stretch of ground just off the Maury River Trail in Lexington, Virginia.
To say it is "conspicuous to the casual observer," as the saying goes, is indeed an understatement for this most unusual plant.
Its tall, upright stems topped off by a green-centered blossom are certainly a sight to catch one's eye. (At least it did mine! Take a look and see what you think...)
Although not alone in displaying a green centered blossom, the other wildflowers with this particular coloration blossom earlier in the growing season.
Anemone virginiana flowers in late spring and lasts well into early September here in Virginia.
Rue Anemone, a member of the same family, also sports a green-centered blossom. It is an early bloomer, gracing shady hillsides beginning in early April in the Shenandoah Valley.
(Beyond the green center, you'll no doubt notice a general resemblance between the two blossoms; this similarity has led some scientists to place Rue Anemone, which is a low grower, in the genus Anemonella or little Anemone.)
Thimbleweed, also called Large Anemone and Tall Anemone, is much taller, reaching 18" before displaying its blossoms.
Although the
flowers are similar in appearance, the Tall Anemone blossom has a completely different structure.
The petal-like white forms framing the green center are actually sepals—the usually green outer covering of a blossom, which comprise the calyx or husk of the bud. (Indeed, the "flowers" are the multiple upright elements in the center of each blossom.)
So not only does Thimbleweed sport a green center, it doesn't have any petals!
(Other flowers without petals in the Gallery are Pokeweed and Flowering Spurge.)
The "petals" drop off, leaving a prickly green seedpod, which looked like a thimble to the early settlers. And so we have a most common name for a most uncommon native wildflower.
Go to the Main Directory to consider more lilies of the field.
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