Eranthis hiemalis

[Owdboggy]

aka Winter aconites.
One of my favourite spring woodlanders.

 

[Jewell]

Love these

 

[claudine]

They're so pretty! Do they come in white as well? I believe I saw little flowers like those in a park in my area, but all their petals were white.

 

[Owdboggy]

As far as I am aware there are no white versions of this. There are orange ones and doubles and some other very rare and hard to get hold of species. The prices quoted for the forms are beyond my pocket I have to say.
So, what the white flower you have seen is, I am not sure.
PS. There was a long discussion on the Scottish Rock Garden Website about white Eranthis some time back and there is a species E albiflora which ought to be white. As far as I can see it is not in cultivation.

 

[claudine]

Maybe what I saw was a different plant. I'm not sure. If I find it again, I'll take a picture of it and post it here, so we can compare them

 

[Marck]

Winter-aconites (Eranthis) is a genus of approx. eleven species of tuberous perennial herbs, in the Buttercup Family (Ranunculaceae), native to southern Europe, various parts of Asia, and Japan. The large, showy sepals of Eranthis flowers may be either white or yellow, depending on the species. The petals of the flower are much smaller structures in the center of the flower, often yellow or white and yellow.

Species with yellow sepals (Subgenus: Eranthis): E. cilicica, E. hyemalis, H. iranica, H. longistipitata
Also H. x. tubergenii, which is cultivated hybrid of E. cilicica and E. hyemalis,

Species with white sepals (Subgenus: Shibateranthis): E. albiflora, E. byunsanensis, E. lobulata, E. pinnatifida, E. stellata, E. tanhoensis

Note: the key in The Flora of China states that E. stellata has yellow sepals but this is incorrect. Perhaps an old, yellowed herbarium specimen was misinterpreted. The Flora of China also states that the sepals of E. lobulata are unknown, but other references show photos of the flower and suggest that it may be a synonym of E. albiflora.

Of course, I can't say whether Eranthis flowers with white sepals were seen growing in a park in Poland. Some white-sepaled species are grown by bulb specialists and researchers, but whether or not such a plant would be seen in a public garden, perhaps a botanical garden, is another matter. There are a number of other flowers that bear some resemblance to Eranthis, particularly Anemone (Anemone, Anemonoides, etc.) and Buttercups (Ranunculus).