Cutleaf Anemone

Anemone multifida

Ranunculaceae

• Spokane Region native
• Sun - Part Shade
• Size: 6"-20" tall x 24" wide
• Drought Tolerant: Moderate
• Evergreen: No
• Flower Color: Highly variable — cream, white, yellow-green, pink to deep red-purple; silky outside, yellowish-white within (May–August)
• Wildlife Value: Attracts native bees and early-season pollinators; silky seedheads used by hummingbirds as nesting material; deer resistant; supports invertebrate communities in open rocky habitats.

Cutleaf Anemone is a widely distributed, elegantly variable native wildflower of Washington and the Pacific Northwest, as comfortable on a sun-baked eastern Washington basalt hillside as it is in an alpine meadow above timberline. Burke Museum Herbarium confirms it as native on both sides of the Cascades crest throughout Washington, inhabiting open rocky slopes, forest clearings, and gravelly ground from low foothills to subalpine zones — habitat that maps directly onto the Spokane region's ponderosa pine and bunchgrass transition landscapes. It grows from a branching caudex into loose clumps and increases steadily over time in well-drained garden settings. The species is notably variable: stature, flower color, and leaf form shift considerably from one population to the next, shaped by elevation, soil, and microclimate. For best ecological integrity and garden performance, source plants or seed from local eastern Washington or northern Idaho provenances.

The plant's most immediately striking quality is its foliage — basal leaves deeply cut two or three times into narrow, pointed segments and clothed in long, silky white hairs that catch the light and give the plant a soft, luminous quality throughout the growing season. From late spring into summer, slender flowering stems rise to 6–20 inches, each bearing one to several flowers composed of 4–8 large, petal-like sepals (the genus lacks true petals) in colors ranging from creamy white and pale yellow to rich pink and deep red-purple — the outer surfaces typically silkier and more intensely colored than the interior. After petals fall, equally ornamental fluffy, globe-like seedheads of woolly achenes develop, closely resembling those of Pulsatilla or Clematis in their feathery, cottony texture. These persistent seedheads provide the plant with a second season of visual interest well into late summer.

All fresh parts of Anemone multifida contain protoanemonin, a volatile, irritating compound characteristic of the Ranunculaceae family that breaks down upon drying and causes skin and mucous membrane irritation on contact with fresh plant tissue. Customers should be advised to wear gloves when handling and to keep plants away from children and pets. Despite this caution, the dried plant has a long history of careful medicinal use in Indigenous cultures across its range — root preparations were used in very small doses for various complaints, reflecting knowledge of the plant's potency. Ecologically, the plant functions as a mid-season nectar and pollen source in rocky and open habitats, and its cotton-like seedheads are gathered by Rufous Hummingbirds and other species to line nests.

In the Spokane garden, Cutleaf Anemone is well suited to rock gardens, native wildflower borders, gravelly slope plantings, and the sunny to lightly shaded edges of woodland beds. Its finely textured foliage provides attractive contrast to bolder-leaved companions throughout the growing season, and its variable flower color introduces an element of pleasant surprise. It combines naturally with Pasque Flower (Pulsatilla patens), Prairie Smoke (Geum triflorum), Arrowleaf Balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata), Wild Blue Flax (Linum lewisii), Cutleaf Daisy (Erigeron compositus), and Silvery Lupine (Lupinus argenteus) in a native eastern Washington rock garden or wildflower meadow. Plant in well-drained, gritty or rocky soil and avoid overwatering once established. Do not disturb the root crown of established plants.