''Anemone thomsonii'' is a species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. They include all forbs (flowering plants without a woody stem), grasses and grass-like plants, a vast majority of ...

in the buttercup family

Ranunculaceae Ranunculaceae (buttercup or crowfoot family; Latin "little frog", from "frog") is a family of over 2,000 known species of flowering plants in 43 genera, distributed worldwide. The largest genera are '' Ranunculus'' (600 species), '' Delphiniu ...

. It is a low to high (7–70 cm)

geophyte A storage organ is a part of a plant specifically modified for storage of energy (generally in the form of carbohydrates) or water. Storage organs often grow underground, where they are better protected from attack by herbivores. Plants that have ...

with finely divided leaves from the ground, and a stem that carries one flower, which has about twenty

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined ...

s, that are white or light pink inside and mostly have a very wide purple stripe at the outside. The species is limited to the highlands of

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the histori ...

Description

''Anemone thomsonii'' is a geophyte with a short and stout rhizome. The leaves at the base are 3–40 cm, usually totally split into three, each of which is again split into three, and this is repeated a third time so that one leaf is composited of about twenty seven lobes, each of which itself is more or less deeply incised, resulting in narrow segments. The lower surface of the leaves is more or less hairy. The stems are 7–70 cm high and have silky hairs pressed to the surface of the stem, particularly near the tip. The bract is well below the flower, small and ones incised. The only flower at the tip of the stem is 2½–6½ cm in diameter. The

s are white or white tinged with pink on the inner surface, while the outer surface is often pink, red, or purple. The many, single

carpel Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) '' pistils' ...

s, and the single-seeded, dry and

indehiscent Dehiscence is the splitting of a mature plant structure along a built-in line of weakness to release its contents. This is common among fruits, anthers and sporangia. Sometimes this involves the complete detachment of a part; structures that o ...

fruits (called

achene An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not op ...

s), that they develop into, are covered in dense silky hairs. The

style Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to: * Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable * Design, the process of creating something * Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...

is short and hairless, and under 1 mm long when the fruits are ripe. cited on

Taxonomy

''Anemone thomsonii'' was first described by Daniel Oliver in 1885, based on a specimen that was collected by

Joseph Thomson Joseph or Joe Thomson is the name of: * J. J. Thomson (1856–1940), physicist * Joseph Thomson (cricketer) (1877-1953), Australian cricketer *Joseph Thomson (explorer) (1858–1895), African explorer * Joseph Angus Thomson (1856–1943), Australia ...

during his 1883-1884 mission to Mount Kilimanjaro and the Aberdare Range, and now resides at the

Kew Herbarium Kew Gardens is a botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botanical and mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1840, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its living collections include some of the ...

. There are currently no recognized

synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are ...

Etymology

The species was named to commemorate Joseph Thomson's successful 1883-1884 plant collecting mission.

Distribution

''Anemone thomsonii'' is known from the highlands of East-Africa, including

Mount Hanang Mount Hanang is a mountain in northern Tanzania. The peak has an elevation of 3,420 m above sea level. Hanang is located in Manyara Region's Hanang District. It is (after Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Meru and Mount Loolmalasin) the fourth-highest m ...

and the

Kilimanjaro Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: above sea level and abo ...

in Tanzania, and the

Aberdare Range The Aberdare Range (formerly the Sattima Range, Kikuyu: ''Nyandarua'') is a 160 km (100 mile) long mountain range of upland, north of Kenya's capital Nairobi with an average elevation of . It straddles across the counties of Nyandarua, Nye ...

and

Mount Kenya Mount Kenya ( Kikuyu: ''Kĩrĩnyaga'', Kamba, ''Ki Nyaa'') is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second-highest in Africa, after Kilimanjaro. The highest peaks of the mountain are Batian (), Nelion () and Point Lenana (). Mount Kenya is loc ...

in Kenya.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4117439 thomsonii Plants described in 1885 Flora of East Tropical Africa Taxa named by Daniel Oliver