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PASQUE FLOWER {j^^^VOien, l.v^r.Wol}gangiana (Bess.) Koch) 

 ^ [{Pulsatilla patens (L.) Mill.) 



Plate XIV. 



Buttercup Family. 



Common Names: This lovely flower is known under a variety of 

 names, the most familiar being prairie anemone, American Pulsatilla, 

 Easter-flower, wild crocus, prairie-smoke, and sand-flower. 



Description: The . pasque flower is one of the most beautiful of the 

 prairie spring flowers. It is a perennial, with a single, large, cup-shaped, 

 violet-coloured flower, which opens before the silky grey-green leaves have 

 appeared above ground. The fruit cluster is interesting, as each seed has 

 a long feathery appendage which aids it in dissemination. The leaves, 

 which appear later, are finely dissected. The plant is in bloom from 

 early in March to April and sometimes in May. 



Distribution: This native plant is common on the prairies from 

 Manitoba to British Columbia. 



Poisonous Properties: Pammel says it is Si " very poisonous plant. 

 The different parts of the plant are entirely acrid and, when applied to the 

 skin, cause irritation and vesication. The acridity of the plant is due to 

 the presence of a crystalline substance called anemonine.*' Lloyd states: 

 ^'The vapours evolved from the fresh juice are of such an acrid nature as to 

 have inflamed the eyes and have closed them temporarily. For this reason 

 persons refuse to work with the fresh herb.'^ 



It is interesting to note that Mr. T. N. Willing drew the attention of 

 stockmen to the injury caused by this plant in 1903 as follows: — 



"Crocus Anemone. — This is a beautiful purplish cup-shaped flower 

 that is very abundant in some localities in the early spring. Close 

 observation on the part of some Alberta shepherds showed that deaths 

 were frequent in a bunch of sheep after feeding greedily on these flowers, 

 and a microscopical and chemical investigation by Professors Fletcher and 

 Shutt, of Ottawa, proved that numerous balls of felt, composed of the fine 

 hairs with which the plant is covered, formed in the stomachs and impaired 

 the digestion to such an extent as to frequently prove fatal. I have, 

 however, taken from an old sheep as many as seventeen balls which varied 

 in size from a marble to a large egg. This ewe was known as a 'piner.' 

 A shepherd should avoid letting his sheep graze where the anemone is 

 abundant." 



MARSH MARIGOLD. {Caltha palustris L.) Buttercup Family. 



Common Names: The marsh marigold is also called cowslip, king- 

 cup, meadow-gowan, water-dragon, may blobs, soldiers-buttons, water- 

 goggles. 



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