Anemone richardsonii Hooker
Yellow anemone.
Ranunculaceae, buttercup family.
Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 6. 1829.
Type: Described from Canada, Melville Island.
Jurtsevia richardsonii (Hook.) Á.Löve & D.Löve,
Bot. Not. 128: 511. 1976.
Anemonidium richardsonii (Hook.) Starod.,
Vetrenitsii: Sistematika i Evolutsiya 151. 1991.
Vegetative morphology. Plants perennial herbs; 1–9 cm high; with single unbranched stems. Caudex present (thin). Ground-level or under-ground stems horizontal; rhizomatous; elongate. Leaves arising singly from creeping rhizomes; alternate; existing for a single season or less. Petioles 10–85 mm long. Leaf blade bases cordate. Blades 10–30 mm long; 15–45 mm wide. Blades circular, or reniform; flat; veins palmate. Blades adaxial surface glabrous, or glabrescent. Blades adaxial surface hairs simple, unbranched; sparse; white and translucent. Blades abaxial surface glabrescent, or hairy; villous. Blades abaxial surface hairs white, or translucent hairs. Blade margins lobed. Blade margins crenate, or serrate; with teeth all around the blade. Leaf apices acute, or obtuse.
Reproductive morphology. Flowering stems present. Flowering stems without leaves; hairy. Flowers solitary. Involucral bracts present (2–3, 1-tiered). Outer involucral bracts blade surface flat. Flowers large, more than 15 mm in diameter or length. Calyx sepals 6(–8); free; 8–15 mm long. Calyx yellow; petaloid; hairy (abaxially villous, adaxially glabrous). Calyx hairs white or translucent. Petals absent. Stamens 30–40; filaments glabrous. Anthers 0.65–0.75 mm long. Receptacle 3–5 mm high. Carpels apocarpous; 20–35. Fruit stalk 8–14 mm long. Fruit dry; an achene; ovoid, or oblong; indehiscent. Fruit 3–4 mm long; 1.2–1.7 mm wide; brown. Styles modified and persisting; remaining straight; persisting in fruit 3–6 mm long. Seeds 1.
Chromosome information. 2n = 14. 14 (2x). - Bormann and Beatty (1955 Alaska); Heimburger (1959 Alaska); Zhukova (1966, 1982 north eastern Asia); Johnson and Packer (1968 northwestern Alaska ); Sokolovskaya (1968 north eastern Asia, Koryak), Zhukova et al. (1973, 1977a north eastern Asia); Zhukova and Petrovsky (1976 western Chukotka, 1987a northern Siberia); Löve and Löve (1982 arctic Canada); Starodubtsev (1982 northe eastern Asia Magadan, 1983, 1991 north eastern Asia).
Distribution. Northern hemisphere distribution: amphi-Beringian (braodly; absent from the area between Lena River and Greenland); Greenland, Canada, United States, Eurasia. Low arctic. Arctic Islands: Victoria.
Ecology and habitat. Substrates: acidic.
Notes. This showy anemone is named for John Richardson who was the surgeon-naturalist with the Franklin expedition of 1819–22. This is the only northern anemone with yellow flowers. Richardson’s anemonorth eastern Canada be found in bloom until late in the season by searching in areas where snowbanks persist. It also grows in moist, sheltered areas under willows.
Illustrations. • Close-up of plant. Flowering plant in lush snowbank environment. Alaska: Seward Pen., Arctic Creek along Teller road. July 1998. Photographed by R.Elven. No voucher. • Close-up of plant. Plants in lush snowbank meadow. Alaska: Krusenstern Natl. Monument, Sheshalik. July 2001. Photo: H.Solstad. • Close-up of flower. Flowers resembling Ranunculus but with only one whorl of tepals. Alaska: Krusenstern Natl. Monument, Sheshalik. July 2001. Photo: H.Solstad. • Plant habit. Isolated yellow flower. Plants growing on a dry bank, N.W.T., Banks Island, Sachs Harbour. 22 July 1981, J.M. Gillett 18763, CAN. • Herbarium specimen. Plants collected in N.W.T. near Brintnell Lake, 5 July, 1939, H.M. Raup and J.H. Soper, 9389. CAN 268671. • Close-up of fruiting specimen. Head of achenes with styles still attached. Plants collected N.W.T. on Kazan River, 1–15 August 1930, A.E. Porsild, 5801. CAN 57480. • Arctic Island distribution.
Cite this publication as: ‘S.G. Aiken, M.J. Dallwitz, L.L. Consaul, C.L. McJannet, L.J. Gillespie, R.L. Boles, G.W. Argus, J.M. Gillett, P.J. Scott, R. Elven, M.C. LeBlanc, A.K. Brysting and H. Solstad. 1999 onwards. Flora of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: Descriptions, Illustrations, Identification, and Information Retrieval. Version: 29th April 2003. http://www.mun.ca/biology/delta/arcticf/’. Dallwitz (1980) and Dallwitz, Paine and Zurcher (1993, 1995, 2000) should also be cited (see References).
