It’s March and that means that woodland floors are adorned with the white star-like flowers of the Wood Anemone. Tim Hill, the Trust’s Conservation Manager tells us more about the plant, it’s value to other wildlife and why it holds a very special place in our hearts. Plus, we introduce you to some fascinating Wood Anemone facts and folklore.

By mid-March, the woodland floor of our best Oak-Hornbeam woods is usually dotted with the white flowers of Wood Anemones, sometimes forming rugs of tightly packed blooms, scattered through the trees. A true harbinger of spring, this plant is one of the first to flower. It’s a perennial, spreading through a complex root system as most of its seeds are infertile. 

The white flowers provide a welcome supply of pollen to newly emerged insects and it’s not uncommon to see bumblebees buzzing from flower to flower. 

The Wood Anemone is also close to this Trust’s heart, being the county flower of Middlesex. 

It flowers right through to May, before the leaves of the trees form full shade and by mid-summer there is no sign of the plant left to be seen. 

Wood Anemone Facts and Folklore

• Wood Anemone are an Ancient Woodland Indicator – that’s because the plant spreads via rhizomes at an incredibly slow rate – approximately only 1.8 metres every 100 years. It’s presence reliably informs us that a woodland has existed for centuries.
• The plant has a pungent odour and a bitter taste which deters many animals from eating it. It’s also poisonous to humans.
• The Wood Anemone is named after the Greek wind god Amenos – a name that also reflects its delicate flowers that sway and nod in the breeze.
• Wood Anemone flowers are heliotropic meaning that they are sun-lovers. Their flowers only open fully when the sun is shining and this protects their pollen.
• Folklore would have us believe that Wood Anemone’s closed, nodding flowers offer fairies shelter from the rain.
• There is contrary belief as to the good and bad powers of the plant; in some European traditions it was seen as unlucky, known as the ‘Flower of Death’ or the ‘Devil’s Plant’, whilst some held it high esteem for it’s protective magic and carried the plant with them to ward off sickness, fever and evil. 

Where to look for Wood Anemones

If you would like to see Wood Anemones, one of the best places is Whomerly Wood in Stevenage where there is a waymarked woodland trail, created by the Trust in 2012, in partnership with Stevenage Borough Council. Or, check out our woodland nature reserves to see these and other woodland wildflowers starting to bloom.