Anemone riparia is an upright growing herbaceous

Herbaceous

A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. They have no persistent woody stem above ground...

 plant species in the genus Anemone

Anemone

Anemone , is a genus of about 120 species of flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae in the north and south temperate zones...

and family Ranunculaceae

Ranunculaceae

Ranunculaceae are a family of about 1700 species of flowering plants in about 60 genera, distributed worldwide....

. Plants grow 30 to 100 cm tall, flowering early summer but often found flowering till mid August, the flowers are greenish-white, white or even sometimes red tinted, 2-3 cm wide. After flowering the fruits are produced in a dense rounded, to rounded columned heads 8 mm thick. When the fruits, called achenes, are ripe they have gray-white colored, densely woolly styles, that allow them to blow away in the wind. This species is similar to Anemone cylindrica and Anemone virginiana. Native from Eastern North America were it is found growing on rocky banks and in open woods. The species validity in the past has been disputed. Differing from A. virginiana in the size of the fruiting heads and anthers.

• A. virginiana with anthers 1.2-1.6 mm long, fruiting heads 12-15 mm thick.
• A. riparia with anthers .7-1.2 mm long and fruiting heads 7-11 mm thick.

Currently listed as Anemone Virginiana var. alba by a number of taxonomy works.