Wood Anemone is a small fragile perennial. The flowers consist of seven white sepals which close up in the evening; there is an occasional blue form, caerulea. The leaves are deeply cut; they grow on long stalks coming from the main stem in groups of three.
The plant is poisonous. It grows charmingly in drifts at the edge of deciduous woods where the soil is not too acid. It is mainly found in the north of Ireland, and less often in other parts of the country. The naturalist, Robert Lloyd Praeger, mentions a blue form growing in abundance in the Ow river valley above Aughrim, Wicklow. The plant is frequently used for wild gardens, sometimes in the blue for 'Robinsoniana'.
Flowers come out from March to May.
Wood Anemone grows all through the temperate zone of central Europe and western Asia.