W159 

 (leaf 2) 



of the lengthened stems, are fluffy, feathery balls containing numer- 

 ous small seeds. American pasqueflower, "elected queen of flower 

 land by the legislature of South Dakota, need never fear to stand in 

 any flower company, however distinguished, however beautiful, how- 

 ever charming." 5 



This plant is the only species of Pidsatilla in the eastern and 

 southern part of its range, but from Montana westward to Washing- 

 ton and northward to Alaska, it may be confused with western pas- 

 queflower (P. occidentaflis) . Western pasqueflower ranges from 

 Alaska to Montana and California and is the only Pulsatilla occur- 

 ring in the latter State. It differs from American pasqueflower 

 chiefly in having somewhat smaller, lighter-colored (frequently 

 white) flowers. Furthermore, the involucral leaves of western 

 pasqueflower are lobed or divided two or three times into short, nar- 

 row lobes, whereas the involucral leaves of American pasqueflower 

 are generally divided into a number of long, narrow lobes. These 

 two species are the only ones in North America, but about 16 other 

 species are found in the north temperate and subarctic regions of 

 Europe and Asia. 



Part of the name, pasqueflower, is derived from pasque, the old 

 form of pasch, the feast of the passover, hence Easter. Some au- 

 thors report that the name was adopted because, before the calendar 

 was revised, these were the most abundant flowers at Easter time; 

 others that a dye for coloring Easter eggs was obtained from them. 

 The generic name, Pulsatilla, is the diminutive of the Latin pwlsatio, 

 meaning, a knocking or beating; its significance is uncertain, al- 

 though it may refer to the throbbing caused by the irritation of 

 poultices made from these plants. 



Although pasqueflower is the common name most widely used, 

 such other appellations as April-fools, Easter-flower, hartshorn, 

 headache-plant, Mayflower, rocklily, wild-crocus, and windflower 

 have variously designated this species. The large downy -hairy buds 

 suggest baby fowl to children who often call them goslings. The 

 Dakota Indians dub the pasqueflower hakshi-chekpa-w<ilicka, mean- 

 ing twin-flower, because usually each plant bears just two flower- 

 ing stalks. 2 This may be misleading, as although it is possible that 

 two stems are produced more often than any other number, plants 

 with only one stem or with several stems are not uncommon. In 

 Great Britain pasqueflowers are often called Danesblood, due to an 

 early tradition that these plants first appeared on battlefields stained 

 with the blood of invading Danish warriors. 



2 See footnote on preceding page. 



6 [Grosvenor, G. H.] otiu STATE FLOWERS. TUB FLORAL EMBLEMS CHOSEN BY THE 

 COMMONWEALTHS. Natl. Geogr. Mag. ;?1(6): 481-517, illus. 3917. 



