Ranunculaceae : Pulsatilla patens ssp. multifidi
Files
Family Name
Ranunculaceae
Common Name
Pasqueflower
Native American Name
Lakota: hokší čhekpá waȟčá
Description
Pulsatilla patens is a perennial herb, 5-45 cm tall growing from a stout caudex. One to several flower-bearing stems appear early in the spring as the snow melts. A few to several basal leaves emerge after the flowers bloom. The basal leaves have 5-7 lobes, each dissected into many linear to lanceolate segments. There is a whorl of 3 sessile leaves, just below 2-5 cm long, the flower, palmately compound and divided into several narrow segments like the basal leaves. The leaves and stems are densely covered in long silky hairs. A solitary flower, 4-8 cm across, tops a densely hairy stalk, having 5 to 7 blue-violet to white petal-like sepals. The stamens are numerous and yellow in color that surround a light green columnar center. The sepals are pointed at the tip and lined with numerous parallel veins. The fruiting head is 3-6 cm long by 4-8 cm wide. The achenes are 3-6 mm long, spindle-shaped, brown, covered in long white hairs, with the styles becoming pinkish purple feather-like plumes up to 2-3.5 cm long. The plume facilitates dispersal by wind. Pasqueflower blooms from April into June on open prairies throughout South Dakota.
Synonym: Anemone patens
Horticulture Notes
Seed Collection: Collect the achenes in early summer when they are brown iand the plumes are well developed.
Germination: No pretreatment is needed for the seeds.
Vegetative propagation: Divide or take root cuttings in spring or late fall. Soils: Sandy to loamy, well drained. Light: Full sun.
Water: Well drained to dry conditions.
Additional Notes
Pasqueflower is one of the first flowers to bloom in the spring, usually on south facing slopes in dry to average sandy soil, typically in scattered clumps. It is the South Dakota State flower is nice addition to any early spring garden, easy to grow and not too aggressive.