Scientific name: Anemone piperi

Facts: Piper’s anemone is a small but very common early spring wildflower that is sprinkled across the forest floor through the woods of the Blue Mountains. It blooms from around the middle of April through May, first at lower elevations and then higher.

The plants are about 6- to 12-inches high, with a single stem and one flower at the top. The leaves are compound, each leaf having three oval leaflets. Leaves arise either separately from the ground or are in a whorl of three leaves just beneath the flower.

The flowers are white when they first open, and after a week or two they turn a bright pink and remain pink a while longer before withering. Each flower has five petals, or occasionally six.

There are about 20 species of Anemone in North America, which are in the buttercup family.

There are several in northeast Oregon, but if it looks anything like the one in this photo, there is a 95 percent probability it is Piper’s anemone. This species is found from British Columbia through Oregon, to Montana and Utah.

Where to find: In shady moist woods. With white or pink flowers over an inch across, they are easy to spot.