About Anemone tuberosa var. texana Enquist & Crozier
Anemone tuberosa, commonly known as desert anemone or tuber anemone, is a herbaceous flowering plant belonging to the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. Plants grow between 10 to 30 cm tall, occasionally reaching 40 cm, from a woody-textured tuber that is shaped like a caudex. They produce 1 to 3 basal leaves that are 1 or 2 times ternate. These few basal leaves have long petioles and are deeply divided into three parts; their leaflets have no stems, or only rarely develop a stalk. Flowering occurs from early to late spring. Flowers are made up of 8 to 10 sepals, which are normally white or pink, and measure 10 to 14 mm long. Plants produce one peduncle that holds either one single solitary flower or a cyme with 2 to 5 flowers. Fruits form fusiform-shaped heads, and are carried on pedicels that are 7–20 cm long. The fruits, called achenes, are 2.5 to 3.5 mm long and 2 to 2.5 mm wide, with a rounded outline and a flattened shape. They are densely woolly, not winged, and bear straight beaks that are 1.5 mm long. Anemone tuberosa is native to southern, central and western North America. It occurs most commonly in Nevada, New Mexico, and northern Mexico, and also ranges west to California and east to Texas. This spring-flowering species grows on rocky slopes and along stream banks. Anemone tuberosa is part of a species complex that contains 6 to 9 species native to the southwestern and central United States, extending down to South America. Most species in this complex produce tubers or caudex-like tubers. The variety described here is Anemone tuberosa var. texana Enquist & Crozier.
