Thimble weed facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Thimble weed |
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|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Anemone
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| Species: |
riparia
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The thimble weed, also known as Anemone riparia, is a type of plant that grows straight up. It belongs to the Anemone group and the Ranunculaceae family, which includes buttercups. This plant is a herbaceous plant, meaning it has soft stems and usually dies back to the ground each year.
Thimble weed plants can grow to be about 30 to 100 centimeters (about 1 to 3 feet) tall. They usually start to bloom in early summer, but you might still see their flowers as late as mid-August. The flowers are typically greenish-white or white, and sometimes they have a hint of red. Each flower is about 2 to 3 centimeters (about 1 inch) wide.
After the flowers fade, the plant produces its fruits. These fruits grow in tight, round clusters that look like small columns, about 8 millimeters (a third of an inch) thick. The individual fruits are called achenes. When they are ready, these achenes have fuzzy, gray-white parts called styles. These fuzzy styles help the fruits catch the wind and blow away, spreading the plant's seeds.
Where Thimble Weed Grows
The thimble weed is a plant that naturally lives in Eastern North America. You can often find it growing in places like rocky riverbanks or in open woods where there's plenty of sunlight. It likes areas where it can get good drainage and some space to grow.
How Thimble Weed is Different from Similar Plants
The thimble weed, Anemone riparia, looks a lot like two other plants: Anemone cylindrica and Anemone virginiana. For a long time, scientists even debated if Anemone riparia was its own species or just a type of Anemone virginiana.
However, there are some small but important differences that help tell them apart. Scientists look at the size of the plant's anthers (the part of the flower that holds pollen) and the thickness of the fruit heads.
- A. virginiana has anthers that are about 1.2 to 1.6 millimeters long. Its fruit heads are thicker, usually 12 to 15 millimeters across.
- A. riparia has smaller anthers, about 0.7 to 1.2 millimeters long. Its fruit heads are also thinner, typically 7 to 11 millimeters across.
Today, some plant experts still list Anemone riparia as a variety of Anemone virginiana, calling it Anemone Virginiana var. alba. This shows how closely related these plants are!
