Pasque Flower
Pulsatilla patens
Pasque Flower (Pulsatilla patens) is a softly fuzzy native perennial and South Dakota's state flower, with pale purple to near-white, yellow-centered flowers. One of the first flowers of spring in the Black Hills, it blooms from March into May in mixed grass prairie and open pine forest, from low to high elevations. Photographed in the Black Hills.
| Family | Ranunculaceae · Buttercup |
|---|---|
| Status | Native perennial |
| Blooms | March into May |
| Height | 5–45 cm (2–18 in) |
| Where | Mixed grass prairie and open pine forest, often on south-facing slopes |
| Also called | Pasqueflower, Eastern Pasqueflower, Prairie Crocus |
| Synonym | Anemone patens, Pulsatilla nuttalliana, Pulsatilla hirsutissima, Pulsatilla patens subsp. multifida, Anemone patens var. multifida |
Roots, seeds & germination
Root: A stout caudex, the woody base at the root crown.
Seed: A brown, hairy achene (a dry, one-seeded fruit), 3 to 6 mm, with a feathery plume 2 to 3.5 cm long that carries it on the wind. Collect in early summer, when the achenes are brown and the plumes are well developed.
Germination: No pretreatment needed.
How do you identify Pasque Flower?
Look for a single flower, 4 to 8 cm across, on a fuzzy stem, with 5 to 7 petal-like sepals around many yellow stamens. The leaves are finely divided and soft-haired, and by mid-summer the flower has turned into a wispy tuft of feathery seed plumes.
When does it bloom?
March into May.
Where does it grow?
Common in mixed grass prairie and open pine forest from low to high elevations in the Black Hills. It usually grows on south-facing slopes in dry to average sandy soil, often in scattered clumps.
Other flowers to compare
Sources: Forest Service, Black Hills National Forest: Black Hills Native Plants; National Park Service, Jewel Cave: Wildflowers; SDSU Extension: Native Plants to Know, Eastern Pasqueflower; SDSU Open PRAIRIE: Pulsatilla patens ssp. multifida; National Park Service, Devils Tower: Wildflowers; VASCAN: Pulsatilla nuttalliana; Plants of the World Online: Pulsatilla nuttalliana; ITIS: Pulsatilla hirsutissima, a synonym of Anemone patens var. multifida.