RANUNCULACEAE CROWFOOT FAMILY 
PASQUE FLOWER 
_ Anemone patens L. var. Wolfgangiana (Bess.) Koch 
The Pasque Flower is found blooming in March and April 
only in dry soil in the prairie portions of I]linois and Wisconsin, 
northwest to British Columbia and southward into Texas. It is 
locally very abundant on dry 
barren rolling knolls along the 
northern line of Jo Daviess, 
Carroll, Stephenson, Winnebago, 
Boone and McHenry counties, \ 
and the northwest corner of Cook  \ 
county. 
The plant is a perennial herb 
covered with silky hairs and 
having a thick underground stem. 
It produces a cluster of basal 
leaves which are long petioled 
and palmately divided into nar- 
row segments. The upright stem, ZA 
6-16 inches high, bears a solitary 
purple or white flower and some 
distance below it an involucre of 
3 sessile leaves. 
The 5-7 sepals are petallike 
and form the conspicuous part of 
the flower. There are no petals 
but usually there are some very 
small glandular stamens that do 
not produce pollen and have the yf 
position of petals. The inner i « 
stamens have anthers and produce 
pollen. The pistils are numerous and have long silky styles. 
The akene fruits are in a head and have long feathery styles 
like those of some species of Clematis, page 106. After flowering, 
the peduncle usually elongates, sometimes to 1 foot or more, 
so that the fruits are well exposed to the wind. They are often 
blown considerable distances. 
The dews drip roses on the meadows 
Where the meek daisies dot the sward. 
Spring—FRANCIS LEDWIDGE 
103 
