The plant pictured below has an unarguable beauty but a highly arguable name!  It has been known as Pulsatilla hirsutissima, Pulsatilla ludoviciana, Pulsatilla patens, Anemone patens, etc.  William Weber calls the plant Pulsatilla ludoviciana, a name given by Heller in 1900 as a modification of Anemone ludoviciana given by Nuttall in 1818 (from a specimen Nuttall collected in 1811 "In elevated plains around the Maha village on the Missouri"). 

But the Flora of North America indicates that according to The International Code of Botanical Nomenclature, the names "Pulsatilla ludoviciana" and "Pulsatilla hirsutissima" are illegitimate (probably because a previously assigned name takes precedence). 

Further FNA indicates:

"Recent phylogenetic analyses of Anemone... indicate that ... Pulsatilla... should be subsumed within Anemone".

FNA accepts the name "Anemone patens" for the plant pictured below. 

John Kartesz (author of The Synthesis of the Flora of North America, the ultimate authority for plant names on this web site) continues to accept the genus Pulsatilla, not Anemone, for the plant pictured below.  John calls the plant "Pulsatilla patens".  This name was first given by Philip Miller in the mid-1700s about the same time as the name "Anemone patens" was given by Linnaeus (for a specimen collected in Toboliko, Siberia).

"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".

There are as many common names for Pulsatilla patens as there are scientific names: Pasqueflower, Wild Crocus, Prairie Crocus, Prairie Smoke, Pulsatille. 

Click for more Pulsatilla ludoviciana photographs.

Foothills to subalpine. Woodlands, openings.  Spring.
Haviland Lake, April 31, 2008.

Pasqueflower is not common in the Four Corners area, occurring only in the Abajos of Utah and the foothills and mountains of La Plata County, Colorado.  It is also found through the Rocky Mountains and eastward from the Rockies across the northern tier of states to northern Illinois.  Another species, Pulsatilla occidentalis, is found in the mountains of the Pacific coast states.

Pulsatilla is a lovely, very early blooming wildflower well worth searching for.  Flowers emerge before the finely cut leaves and often last for many days as the entire plant develops.  Plants often occur in large colonies.  Your early spring search for Pulsatilla will probably get you wet and mucky feet, for Pulsatilla is found in the moist of snow melt.  In the summer, these areas are often dry, open, and rocky in the low to high montane forests and meadows. 

Click for more Pulsatilla patens photographs.

Foothills to subalpine. Woodlands, openings.  Spring.
Haviland Lake, April 31, 2008.

Pulsatilla patens is a lovely work of art from the barely observable bud to the fully opened flower.  Each phase is surrounded by fine leaves which gradually unfold and subtend the flower.

Foothills to subalpine. Woodlands, openings.  Spring.
Haviland Lake, May 23, 2007.

Foothills to subalpine. Woodlands, openings.  Spring.
Chris Park Trail, June 27, 2005.

Plants elongate as they mature and petals drop as the maturing seed head becomes a mass of silvery fluff.

Foothills to subalpine. Woodlands, openings.  Spring.
Haviland Lake, April 31, 2008.
Chris Park Trail, June 27, 2005.

The fluff that will carry the seeds on summer breezes is visible even in young flowers in the center of golden yellow pollen.  Eventually delicate violet petals and yellow coated anther sacks fall away and are replaced by the twisting mass of feathery seed heads.

Range map © John Kartesz,
Floristic Synthesis of North America

State Color Key

Species present in state and native
Species present in state and exotic
Species not present in state

County Color Key

Species present and not rare
Species present and rare
Species extirpated (historic)
Species extinct
Species noxious
Species exotic and present
Native species, but adventive in state
Eradicated
Questionable presence

Range map for Pulsatilla patens