Pulsatilla patens

Pulsatilla patens is a species of flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae, native to Europe, Russia, Mongolia, China, Canada and the United States. Common names include Eastern pasqueflower, prairie smoke, prairie crocus, and cutleaf anemone.
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Advocates report that the population of Pulsatilla patens is declining, due to the synergy between the prairie crocus and shortgrass prairie ecosystems. Plowing up the prairie causes the crocus to disappear.

"Pulsatilla" is from the Latin for "pulsing" or "beating", perhaps alluding to the blood of the sacrificial lambs of Passover.  "Pasque" is probably from the Hebrew "paschal", "relating to Passover".  The Pasqueflower begins blooming as soon as the mountain snow melts, about the time of Passover.


"Ludoviciana" means "from Louisiana" -- in this case (as in most), from the Louisiana Territory, not from the state of Louisiana.  "Patens" is Latin for "spreading, open" and may refer to the plant's habit of spreading over large areas and/or to the widely spreading petals or seed head.  And finally, "Anemone" is from the Greek for "wind".

This perennial plant is about ½' tall when it blooms, but it later becomes ¾–1¼' tall. It consists of several basal leaves and one or more flowering stalks that develop at about the same time during the spring. The basal leaves are 1-3" long and similarly across; they are palmately divided into dichotomously branched linear lobes. These lobes are 1-3 mm. across; a few coarse teeth may occur along their margins. 

The basal leaves are medium green and hairless to sparsely hairy above, while below they are densely covered with long silky hairs. The petioles of basal leaves are 1-4" long and densely hairy. Each flowering stalk is light to medium green, terete, relatively stout, and densely hairy. Near the middle of its length, there is a whorl of 3 leafy bracts that are sessile or nearly so. These leafy bracts are about 1-2" long and similarly across; they are similar in appearance to the basal leaves. Each stalk terminates in a single flower that becomes more or less erect when it is fully open.

Cultivation: The preference is full sun, dry-mesic to dry conditions, and a gritty soil containing gravel or rocky material. The root system may rot if the soil becomes waterlogged from poor drainage. Open areas with scant ground vegetation are preferred as this reduces competition from other plants.