Oregon Anemone (Anemone oregana)

Crescent Mountain Trail, Willamette National Forest, OR, 6/2017.

Thanks to Ross & Chambers’ classic Wildflowers of the Western Cascades (a flora of Iron Mountain which, coincidentally, is just a few miles west on Oregon Highway 20 from where these pictures were taken), we now can differentiate Anemone oregana from the very similar lyallii. Both can be found in Oregon, Washington and northern California. Lyallii can be also be found in southern British Columbia. Both have 5 or sometimes 6 or 7 petals, whose color ranges from nearly white to purple or blue. The trick is the number of stamens. According to Ross and Chambers, oregana has 30-100 stamens, while lyallii has 20 or less. Good to know. Happy counting!