Anemone virginiana; Ranunculaceae (buttercup family)

The same day I found water willow (yesterday’s FOTD), I found another native amongst the aliens.  It was also amongst a terrifying stand of poison ivy, so I couldn’t get terribly close to it.  Out of seven new plants I saw that day, only three were natives.  (Check back tomorrow to see the third one.)

Thimbleweed likes a moist to dry soil and some shade.  It can be found in open woods in rocky areas and slopes, throughout the eastern US (except Florida) and much of the midwest, and Canada.  Here it is growing along a rock wall between the C&O canal and the flooded Potomac River: