The buttercup family
Plant family guide
The buttercup family includes more than yellow buttercups. The white spring flowers of Wood Anemone belong here too. Its flower centre is a useful place to start: many pollen-bearing stamens surround a cluster of separate female structures.
Ranunculaceae is a varied family of mostly herbaceous plants, with some climbers such as clematis. Flower colour, leaf shape and the arrangement of the showy parts vary, so look for a combination of features.
Many members have a generous ring of stamens. In Wood Anemone, the small yellow anthers are visible around the centre. The stamens are separate from one another.
A carpel is a female flower structure containing an ovary. In this family the carpels are usually separate, often forming a cluster. Wood Anemone later produces a head of small, dry, single-seeded fruits called achenes.
Some members have both petals and sepals; others have showy sepals without true petals. Wood Anemone is an example of the latter. Its white, petal-like sepals usually number six or seven, but the count varies.
Compare Wood Anemone with Oxeye Daisy. Both can look like a white flower with a yellow centre, but the daisy belongs to Asteraceae: its head is made of many tiny florets. Wood Anemone is one flower. This is a useful reminder to look at flower structure as well as colour.
Primrose, in Primulaceae, offers another comparison: its petal lobes open from a joined tube. Try identifying these different structures in the photographs on each flower page.
Explore the individual flower pages for more photographs and identification details.
