We begin to watch for them to come up each April. Growing in the well drained, crumbled granite soil of our woods, the Pasqueflower is one of the first to appear in the spring. It’s a welcome sight for eyes that are hungry for summer colors. Among the browns, tans, and evergreen colors, here’s a pop of purple for you. Let’s grab the camera, get down on the ground, brush away some pine needles and dry grass, and get a close look. Don’t touch it, though. We’ll get to that.
While Pasqueflower varieties grow around the world, I had never noticed them before moving to the Foothills. Their emergence is that sign that winter is losing its grip. They are armed to handle the Spring storms to come, though.
Handling the Spring storms takes some savvy adaptations. Starting with a base of a long, woody, years-old taproot, the flower waits in the soils for the longer, warmer days and extended sunshine. Rising up from the soil, one striking thing you’ll notice when you get a closer look is the fuzz. A dense coat of silky hairs cover the stem, the bracts (the thin, green leaves surrounding the base of the bloom), and the bloom itself. Zoom in on the bloom and it takes on a cotton-candy look.
So, what does this furry coating do? “There’s a lot of reasons for hairs on plants,” a botanist friend tells me. Along with holding water and nutrients for a tender young bloom, the hairs can deter insects from getting at the tasty nutrients in the stem, which would cut off its growth before it can bloom. The hairs also serve as a layer of insulation, holding snow off (see top photo) and keeping warmer air surrounding the growing bloom, all to protect the goods inside.
The sun comes out, the air warms, and it’s time for the bloom to show off its stuff. It’s one of the first flowers for the newly emerging pollinators to visit. There’s a fascinating set of macro-photography showing the complex structure of the stamens, and how the fuzzy concepts continue right down to microscopic levels.
And this little flower has another self protecting trick up its fuzzy, complex sleeve. It carries a cocktail of chemicals that can cause irritation, and allergic reactions, when touched, and even death if ingested enough. A grazing sheep encountering and munching even 30 blooms can ingest a lethal dose. Despite this, minute doses have been used in traditional medicine as analgesics (pain relief), anxiolytics (antianxiety), and sedatives.
We humans have noted this little flower for millennia. Named for its blooming proximity to Easter, or as the ‘Prairie Crocus’ in Canada. The Lakota call it "hoksi' cekpa" (child's navel). The Dakota, call it, "hokski-chekpa wahcha" (twin flower). The Blackfeet Nation call it "Napi" (old man) for the gray silky heads.1. Legends say that the flower springs from those places where the blood of Romans and Danes has been spilled. Which, as the same botanist friend pointed out, would be the whole of England!
I’m always glad to see them each year, showing the seasons are still with us and all the newness of Spring is ahead.
Thank you for stopping by. While my normal life is full with my paying job, other volunteer work, and family time, I write these posts out of my own naturalist curiosity, and love of writing and photography. Many times, this blog has to take a back seat to my other obligations, but I always have the next post on my mind. My subject matter is limitless! If you have enjoyed these posts, I would, shyly, ask for your support of my work here. Please consider subscribing or upgrading to a paid subscription, and do share what you have enjoyed. I am looking at some benies for paid subscribers of artwork from Itsthemoonart©️, whose artwork has appeared in other posts and my logo (my naturalist-artist daughter and content advisor) and other ideas. I am very thankful for all my subscribers and supporters! Oh! And please let me know if you have ideas you’d like to see a post about!
📷 All photos are credit: The Abert Essays unless otherwise noted.
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Sources:
- Many thanks to my botanist friend, Lawton, for his insights on the fuzzies.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulsatilla_nuttalliana
- https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/pulsatilla_patens_multifida.shtml
- http://www.minnesotaseasons.com/Plants/American_pasqueflower.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulsatilla_nuttalliana
I just love this! It's wonderful to learn about an entirely new-to-me flower. I also really enjoy that you included several meanings and names from indigenous traditions. I look forward to reading more of your work.