PASQUE FLOWER

File Size: 238 KB

Location: Mt. Lady Washington, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

Pulsatilla patens L. var. multifida

Also Called: American pasqueflower, anemone.

Flowering Period: May, June

Family: Buttercup ( Ranunculaceae )

Height: 6-16" (15-40cm)

Life Span: Annual

Stems: Silky-hairy stalk.

Leaves: Basal ones to 3" (7.5cm) long, hairy, palmately divided into segments cut again into narrow divisions; ones beneath flowers hairy, divided into linear lobes. Additional lobed leaves appear at the plant's base when the blooming is finished.

Flowers: 2 1/2" (6.5cm) wide blue to purple or white flower with 5-7 sepals and yellow center. This flower is one of the first flowers to bloom in spring.

Fruits: Seed-like, each tipped by a long style; in feathery heads.

Habitat: Meadows and open forests in the foothills and subalpine ecosystems.

Pasque is French for "Easter". Native Americans of the prairies called it Red-Calf-Flower.