Pulsatilla nuttalliana

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Pulsatilla nuttalliana
Pulsatilla nuttalliana Manitoba May 2019.jpg
In Manitoba, Canada
Status TNC T5.svg
Secure  (NatureServe) [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Ranunculales
Family: Ranunculaceae
Genus: Pulsatilla
Species:
P. nuttalliana
Binomial name
Pulsatilla nuttalliana
Synonyms [2]
  • Anemone nuttalliana DC.
  • Anemone patens var. nuttalliana (DC.) A.Gray
  • Anemone patens var. rosea Cockerell
  • Pulsatilla hirsutissima var. rosea Daniels
  • Pulsatilla ludoviciana f. glabrata A.E.Porsild
  • Pulsatilla patens subsp. nuttalliana (DC.) ined.

Pulsatilla nuttalliana, known as American pasqueflower, prairie pasqueflower, prairie crocus, or simply pasqueflower, is a flowering plant native to much of North America, from the western side of Lake Michigan, to northern Canada in the Northwest Territories, south to New Mexico in the southwestern United States. [3] Pasqueflower is the provincial flower of Manitoba [4] and the state flower of South Dakota. [5] [6]

Contents

Description

The flowers of Pulsatilla nuttalliana develop before their foliage, blooming while the leaves are just beginning to emerge. [7] The stalk supporting the flower can be quite fuzzy or nearly smooth in texture, but never completely hairless. A ring of three very divided bracts, surround the flowering stalk below the flower head. They are very dissimilar to the leaves. [5] Each flower is at the end of a separate stalk, but each plant may have many flowers or a single bloom. [8] The flowers have five to eight sepals of a lavender or blue purple color, and sometimes pale or nearly white in color. [5] Plants that have higher numbers of sepals on flowers will usually revert to having the more common six in future years. [9] The petals are oblong to elliptic in shape. [5] The flowers resemble upward facing bells and are 20–40 mm long. [10] [8] The center of the flower is bright yellow with a mound of 150–200 stamens surrounding the many styles. [8] The blooming period of P. nutalliana is very early, the flowers often emerging as soon as the snow melts and then being snowed upon again. The flowers will close up during colder weather and reopen during warmer periods. [11]

Pulsatilla nuttalliana with seed head in Cypress Hills Provincial Park, Alberta Pulsatilla nuttalliana - Ellyne Geurts 01.jpg
Pulsatilla nuttalliana with seed head in Cypress Hills Provincial Park, Alberta

After blooming the fertilized flowers will develop dry fruits called achenes with a feather like "tail" 20–40 mm long [10] formed from the growing styles. Fertilized styles turn from being whitish to pink or pink-brown in color. [11] Each achene contains a single seed. [12] The overall appearance of the seed head is like a shaggy ball of threads. The stalk continues to grow leaving the ring of bracts much lower down and putting the seeds well above the leaves. [8] Flowers may set seeds through cross-pollination or self-pollination, though to encourage outcrossing the flowers exhibit protogyny, where the female parts develop before the male. [11] [12]

Pulsatilla nuttalliana is herbaceous perennial plant that grows 5–40 cm in height, rarely to 60 cm when full grown. [5] Its stems are soft and covered in short, fine hairs. The basal leaves are divided into three parts (ternately compound) with each leaflet also subdivided so the end segments are 2–4 mm wide. [10] The end leaflet will have a very short stalk attaching it to the leaf stem or almost no stem at all (petiolulate to nearly sessile). The whole of the leaf is 3–5 cm wide, or rarely as little as 2.5 cm, with a teardrop or obovate outline. [5]

The plant grows from a substantial underground tap root and may also reproduce vegetatively by producing new rosettes from its vertically branched roots. [12]

Taxonomy

Illustration from Our Early Wild Flowers by Harriet L. Keeler, 1916 drawn by Mary Keffer Pulsatilla nuttalliana (hirtissima) 1916.png
Illustration from Our Early Wild Flowers by Harriet L. Keeler, 1916 drawn by Mary Keffer

It was first formally named in 1817 as Anemone nuttalliana [13] by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle in Regni vegetabilis systema naturale. [14] [15] In 1823 it was reclassified as Pulsatilla nuttalliana by Friedrich von Berchtold and Jan Svatopluk Presl in O Prirozenosti Rostlin aneb rostlinar. [2]

Currently, along with the other species in Pulsatilla it is classified in Ranunculaceae, commonly known as the buttercup or crowfoot family. [5]

As of 2024 it is considered a full species as Pulsatilla nuttalliana by Plants of the World Online (POWO) [2] and by the Database of Canadian Vascular Plants (VASCAN). [16] It is considered a subspecies or variety of Pulsatilla patens as var. multifida by World Flora Online (WFO) [17] and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS database (PLANTS). [3] It is also considered a subspecies as Anemone patens var. multifida by Flora of North America (FNA). [5] The argument against inclusion of species like Pulsatilla nuttalliana in genus Anemone are that the genetic relationships would also require the inclusion of many other well recognized genera. [18]

Names

The common names "pasque flower" or variations like "western pasque flower" are very often used in English for this species, a reference to its blooming close to the time of Easter. [19] [20] In Canada it is called "prairie crocus" for the general resemblance of its flowers to that of the true crocus. [21] Older common names used prior to the 1920s for the species include "hartshorn-plant", "gosling", "prairie smoke", and simply "crocus". [22]

In the Dakota language it is called "hokski-chekpa wahcha" (twin flower). In Lakota it is "hoksi' cekpa" (child's navel) as a reference to the similar appearance of the flower's bud to a new born's navel when healing. In their own language people of the Blackfeet Nation call it "Napi" (old man) for the gray silky heads. [23]

Habitat and distribution

Pasqueflower growing in Colorado Pasqueflower (Pulsatilla vulgaris) profile.jpg
Pasqueflower growing in Colorado

The natural habitats of Pulsatilla nuttalliana include cool northern prairies, open slopes, fescue grasslands, granite outcrops in forests, and woodlands that are dry and open in montane and boreal areas. They will also grow in human created habitats like clearcut areas, roadsides, and the edges of gravel pits. [5] [24]

Pulsatilla nuttalliana is widely distributed in North America from Alaska and Nunavut in Canada to Ontario and all the western provinces. [16] In the United States they grow from Idaho to Wisconsin and south to Utah, Colorado, and parts of New Mexico. This area encompasses all of the upper Midwestern states and the Southern and Northern Rocky Mountains. [5] [3] [25]

Its global status is recorded as globally secure by NatureServe, but they also treat it as a subspecies rather than as a full species. It is assessed as critically imperiled in Washington, Illinois, and Ontario. [1]

Ecology

Pulsatilla nuttalliana is cross-pollinated by many insects including honeybees, solitary mining bees in andrenidae, bumblebees, and hover flies. Its seeds are distributed by the wind or by the catching in the fur of passing animals. [11] [12]

The forage value to herbivores is low as the plant is mildly toxic due to protoanemonin content. When grazed it will produce new leaves from dormant buds. The numbers of Pulsatilla nuttalliana plants increase in heavily grazed meadows. It is adapted to habitat disturbances including wildfires. However, its seeds do not significantly persist in the soil. [12]

Cultivation

The prairie pasqueflower is rarely grown in gardens as an ornamental flower and is frequently confused with the commonly-grown European species, Pulsatilla vulgaris . However, it is useful as an ornamental, particularly for those interested in North American native species. [26] They are somewhat more often planted in gardens intended to resemble an Upper Midwest prairie or in rock gardens and for its forage value to bees in the spring. [19]

Fresh seed of Pulsatilla species, including of Pulsatilla nuttalliana, germinates readily without stratification or pretreatment in about 3 weeks or slightly more. [27] Seed that has been dry-stored for some months will require a cool moist stratification for 60 days and then sprout at temperatures of 18 to 21°C. [28] The seeds do not keep well and should be immediately planted or stored in cool dry conditions. Pasqueflowers are also propagated vegetatively for gardens or habitat restoration by taking 2–4 cm root cuttings and planting them in well drained potting mediums. [12] Seedlings are difficult to transplant, and the transplantation of all plant sizes is dependent on avoiding root disturbance by digging with a substantial amount of soil. [9]

Good drainage is of critical importance for the health of prairie pasqueflower plants grown in gardens. [9] [19] They grow best in soils that are moist to dry with a neutral to slightly alkaline characteristic (7.0 to 8.0 soil pH) and winter snow cover. They are known to be winter hardy in USDA zones 3–5. [19] Unlike some wildflowers they grow well with some additional compost in the topsoil around 7 centimeters in depth. In areas with hot summers plants are less stressed with partial to half-day shade. [9] In areas with cool summers such as mountain habitats and the northern prairies full sun is required. [9] [19]

Related Research Articles

<i>Crocus</i> Genus of flowering plants in the family Iridaceae

Crocus is a genus of seasonal flowering plants in the family Iridaceae comprising about 100 species of perennials growing from corms. They are low growing plants, whose flower stems remain underground, that bear relatively large white, yellow, orange or purple flowers and then become dormant after flowering. Many are cultivated for their flowers, appearing in autumn, winter, or spring. The flowers close at night and in overcast weather conditions. The crocus has been known throughout recorded history, mainly as the source of saffron. Saffron is obtained from the dried stigma of Crocus sativus, an autumn-blooming species. It is valued as a spice and dyestuff, and is one of the most expensive spices in the world. Iran is the center of saffron production. Crocuses are native to woodland, scrub, and meadows from sea level to alpine tundra from the Mediterranean, through North Africa, central and southern Europe, the islands of the Aegean, the Middle East and across Central Asia to Xinjiang in western China. Crocuses may be propagated from seed or from daughter cormels formed on the corm, that eventually produce mature plants. They arrived in Europe from Turkey in the 16th century and became valued as an ornamental flowering plant.

<i>Anemone</i> Genus of flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae

Anemone is a genus of flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. Plants of the genus are commonly called windflowers. They are native to the temperate and subtropical regions of all regions except Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica and the Middle East. The genus is closely related to several other genera including Anemonoides, Anemonastrum, Hepatica, and Pulsatilla. Some botanists include these genera within Anemone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ranunculaceae</span> Family of eudicot flowering plants

Ranunculaceae is a family of over 2,000 known species of flowering plants in 43 genera, distributed worldwide.

<i>Pulsatilla</i> Genus of flowering plants in the buttercup family

The genus Pulsatilla contains about 40 species of herbaceous perennial plants native to meadows and prairies of North America, Europe, and Asia. Derived from the Hebrew word for Passover, "pasakh", the common name pasque flower refers to the Easter (Passover) flowering period, in the spring. Common names include pasque flower, wind flower, prairie crocus, Easter flower, and meadow anemone. Several species are valued ornamentals because of their finely-dissected leaves, solitary bell-shaped flowers, and plumed seed heads. The showy part of the flower consists of sepals, not petals.

<i>Anemonoides nemorosa</i> Species of flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae

Anemonoides nemorosa, the wood anemone, is an early-spring flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native to Europe. Other common names include windflower, European thimbleweed, and smell fox, an allusion to the musky smell of the leaves. It is a perennial herbaceous plant growing 5–15 cm (2–6 in) tall.

<i>Pulsatilla vulgaris</i> Species of flowering plant

Pulsatilla vulgaris, the pasqueflower, is a species of flowering plant belonging to the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae), found locally on calcareous grassland in Europe, and widely cultivated in gardens. It was considered part of the genus Anemone, to which it is closely related. Several sources still list Anemone pulsatilla as the accepted name, with Pulsatilla vulgaris as a synonym.

<i>Pulsatilla alpina</i> Species of flowering plant

Pulsatilla alpina, the alpine pasqueflower or alpine anemone, is a species of flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae, native to the mountain ranges of central and southern Europe, from central Spain to Croatia. It is an herbaceous perennial growing to 15–30 cm (6–12 in) tall by 20 cm (8 in) wide, and can be found at altitudes of 1,200–2,700 m (3,900–8,900 ft).

<i>Anemonoides quinquefolia</i> Species of flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae

Anemonoides quinquefolia, a flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, is native to North America. It is commonly called wood anemone or windflower, not to be confused with Anemonoides nemorosa, a closely related European species also known by these common names. The specific epithet quinquefolia means "five-leaved", which is a misnomer since each leaf has just three leaflets. A plant typically has a single, small white flower with 5 sepals.

<i>Pulsatilla vernalis</i> Species of flowering plant

Pulsatilla vernalis is a species of flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae, native to mountainous habitats in Europe. Growing to 10 cm (4 in) high and wide, it is a semi-evergreen perennial with hairy, divided leaves. In early spring it bears anemone-like flowers which are up to 6 cm (2 in) in diameter, white flushed with violet on the outer surface of the petals, and prominent yellow stamens.

<i>Pulsatilla pratensis</i> Species of flowering plant

Pulsatilla pratensis, the small pasque flower, is a species of flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae, native to central and eastern Europe, from southeast Norway and western Denmark south and east to Bulgaria. It grows from near sea level in the north of the range, up to 2,100 m (6,900 ft) in the south of its range.

<i>Anemonastrum canadense</i> Species of flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae

Anemonastrum canadense, synonym Anemone canadensis, the Canada anemone, round-headed anemone, round-leaf thimbleweed, meadow anemone, windflower, or crowfoot, is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae. It is native to moist meadows, thickets, streambanks, and lakeshores in North America, spreading rapidly by underground rhizomes. It is valued for its white flowers.

Prairie smoke is a common name for several plants and may refer to:

<i>Pulsatilla occidentalis</i> Species of flowering plant

Pulsatilla occidentalis, synonym Anemone occidentalis, the white pasqueflower or western pasqueflower, is a herbaceous species of flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. Individuals are 10–60 cm (3.9–23.6 in) tall, from caudices, with three to six leaves at the base of the plant that are 3-foliolate, each leaflet pinnatifid to dissected in shape. Leaf petioles are 6–10 cm (2.4–3.9 in) long. Leaves have villous hairs and their margins are pinnatifid or dissected. Plants flower briefly mid-spring to mid-summer, usually soon after the ground is exposed by melting snow. The flowers are composed of five to seven sepals, normally white or soft purple, also mixed white and blueish purple, one flower per stem. The sepals are 15–30 mm (0.59–1.18 in) long and 10–17 mm (0.39–0.67 in) wide. Flowers have 150–200 stamens. The fruit occurs in heads rounded to subcylindric in shape, with pedicels 15–20 cm (5.9–7.9 in) long. The achenes are ellipsoid in shape, not winged, covered with villous hairs, with beaks curved that reflex as they age and 20–40 mm (0.79–1.57 in) long, feather-like. Generally, the fruit persists into fall.

<i>Pulsatilla patens</i> Species of flowering plant

Pulsatilla patens is a species of flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae, native to Europe, Russia, Mongolia, and China. Common names include Eastern pasqueflower and cutleaf anemone.

Cutleaf anemone is a common name for several plant species and may refer to:

<i>Pulsatilla grandis</i> Species of plant

Pulsatilla grandis, the greater pasque flower, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Pulsatilla of the family Ranunculaceae. It is a perennial plant that grows on calcium-rich soil in dry grasslands, in rocky outcrops, and in pine and oak forests. It flowers from February to April, in the time of the Easter, with intensively blue to violet flowers. Its silk stalk is protected from the cold by velvety trichomes (hairs). Pulsatilla grandis is native to the countries of Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe, and is particularly frequent in Hungary. In some of them, it is classed as threatened.

Paten is a plate used in Christian services or rites.

<i>Mertensia lanceolata</i> Species of plant in the borage family

Mertensia lanceolata, known as prairie bluebells, lance-leaved bluebells, lance-leaved lungwort, and narrow-leaved languid ladies is a species of flowering plant native to the Rocky Mountains and areas of the northern Great Plains in western North America. A herbaceous perennial it has blue-green leaves alternately arranged on its smooth flowering stalk. Its flower buds are pink-purple and become blue as they open.

<i>Pulsatilla cernua</i> Species of flowering plant

Pulsatilla cernua, the narrow-leaf pasque-flower, is a species of plant in the family Ranunculaceae. It is a perennial plant. It has dark red/purple flowers with white, silky villose hairs. Pulsatilla cernua flowers from April to May, and then the seeds ripen from May to June. P. cernua is insect pollinated. This plant has both male and female parts, which means it is a hermaphrodite. Most parts of this plant are not edible, except for the roots and leaves.

References

  1. 1 2 NatureServe (2023). "Pulsatilla patens ssp. multifida American Pasqueflower". NatureServe Explorer. Arlington, Virginia: NatureServe. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 "Pulsatilla nuttalliana (DC.) Bercht. & J.Presl". Plants of the World Online . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 14 January 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Pulsatilla patens (L.) Mill. ssp. multifida (Pritz.) Zamels". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  4. ↑ Government of Manitoba. "Symbols of Manitoba". Archived from the original on 2005-12-10. Retrieved 2011-04-10.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Dutton, Bryan E.; Keener, Carl S.; Ford, Bruce A. "Anemone patens var. multifida Pritzel - FNA". Flora of North America. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  6. ↑ Chapter 1 2005 South Dakota Legislative Manual The Mount Rushmore State
  7. ↑ "Pulsatilla patens". Missouri Botanical Gardens Plant Finder. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Delmatier, Charmaine (2016). "Pasqueflower". Plant of the Week. U.S. Forest Service. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Barr, Claude A. (1983). Jewels of the plains : wild flowers of the Great Plains grasslands and hills. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. pp. 155–156. ISBN   0-8166-1127-0.
  10. 1 2 3 Ackerfield, Jennifer (2015). Flora of Colorado (First ed.). Fort Worth, Texas: Botanical Research Institute of Texas. pp. 705–706. ISBN   978-1-889878-45-4.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Bock, Jane H.; Peterson, Steven J. (October 1975). "Reproductive Biology of Pulsatilla patens (Ranunculaceae)". American Midland Naturalist. 94 (2): 476–478. doi:10.2307/2424441.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Gould, K.; Wood, S.; Smreciu, A. (20 December 2014). "Boreal Plant Species for Reclamation of Athabasca Oil Sands Disturbances". ERA. pp. 310–314. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
  13. ↑ "Pulsatilla nuttalliana (DC.) Spreng". ipni.org. International Plant Names Index. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  14. ↑ POWO (2023). "Anemone nuttalliana DC". Plants of the World Online . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  15. ↑ Candolle, Augustin Pyramus de (1818). Regni vegetabilis systema naturale, sive Ordines, genera et species plantarum secundum methodi naturalis normas digestarum et descriptarum. Parisiis [etc.] sumptibus sociorum Treuttel et Würtz. p. 193. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  16. 1 2 "Pulsatilla nuttalliana (de Candolle) Berchtold ex J. Presl". Database of Vascular Plants of Canada (VASCAN). Université de Montréal Biodiversity Centre. 21 September 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
  17. ↑ "Pulsatilla patens subsp. multifida (Pritz.) Zämelis". World Flora Online . Retrieved 14 January 2024.
  18. ↑ Mosyakin, S.L. (2016). "Nomenclatural notes on North American taxa of Anemonastrum and Pulsatilla (Ranunculaceae), with comments on the circumscription of Anemone and related genera" (PDF). Phytoneuron (79): 1–12. ISSN   2153-733X.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 Henderson, Carrol L. (1 June 1987). Landscaping for Wildlife. St. Paul, Minnesota: Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. pp. 18, 71, 72, 73, 86. ISBN   978-0-9647451-5-5 . Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  20. ↑ Thomas, J.J. (1884). Rural affairs. Vol. VII. Albany, New York: Luther Tucker & Son. pp. 40–41. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  21. ↑ Bisset, Alex, ed. (2002). The Canadian Oxford Compact Dictionary. Don Mills, Ontario: Oxford University Press. p. 801. ISBN   978-0-19-541755-5 . Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  22. ↑ Smith, Beatrice S.; Terry, Emily Hitchcock (1992). A Painted Herbarium : The Life and Art of Emily Hitchcock Terry, 1838-1921. Minneapolis, Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press. p. 128. ISBN   978-0-8166-2153-8 . Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  23. ↑ Kindscher, Kelly (1992). Medicinal wild plants of the prairie : an ethnobotanical guide. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. p. 37. ISBN   0700605274.
  24. ↑ Jansen, Dawn. "Plant Propagation Protocol for Pulsatilla patens" (PDF). Native Plant Production Course - School of Environmental and Forest Sciences. University of Washington. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  25. ↑ Wilhelm, Gerould; Rericha, Laura (2017). Flora of the Chicago Region: A Floristic and Ecological Synthesis. Indiana Academy of Sciences.
  26. ↑ Shonle, I.; Vickerman, L.G.; Klett, J.E. (April 2014). "Native Herbaceous Perennials for Colorado Landscapes - 7.242". Extension. Colorado State University. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
  27. ↑ Grey-Wilson, Christopher (2014). Pasque-Flowers: The Genus Pulsatilla, A Guide for Gardeners, Horticulturalists and Botanists. The Charlotte-Louise Press. p. 27. ISBN   9781913845001.
  28. ↑ Baskin, J.M.; Baskin, C.C. (2002). "Pulsatilla patens (L.)". Native Plant Network Propagation Protocol Database. Lexington, (KY): University of Kentucky, United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
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