An anemone by any other name

The pasqueflowers have seeded, summer must be here.

The plant genus Pulsatilla contains some 33 species of herbaceous perennials which native to the meadows and prairies of North America, Europe, and Asia. Their common names include pasque flower or pasqueflower, wind flower, prairie crocus, Easter Flower, and meadow anemone.

The flowers bloom early in the Spring, hence the common name Pasque flower, since Pasque refers to Passover or in Hebrew, Pasakh, or Easter. In Britain our rare native pasqueflower Pulsatilla vulgaris is known as the Anemone of Passiontide. There is a legend that these Pasqueflowers spring from the blood of Romans or Danes, as they typically occur on old earthworks such as barrows and boundary banks. However it is more likely this association reflects the plant's need for undisturbed chalk/limestone grassland which has survived in these places as they have always been too steep to plough.