American pasqueflower - Species Profile
Conservation • Weed • Wetland • Description • Habitat • Ecology • Use • Distribution • Taxonomy
Conservation Status
IUCN Red List
not listed
NatureServe
N4 - Apparently Secure
SNR - Unranked
Minnesota
not listed
Description
American pasqueflower, also called cutleaf anemone or eastern pasqueflower, is an erect, perennial forb. On young plants it sends up basal leaves and a single flowering stem from a woody taproot. On older plants it sends up basal leaves and multiple flowering stems from an short, branched, ascending or vertical caudex.
There are 3 to 10, but usually 5 to 8, basal leaves. The flowering stem has a whorl of three leaves below the inflorescence. Basal leaves are on leaf stalks that are 2″ to 5″ long though usually no longer than 4″. They are divided into 4 to 6 leaflets. Each leaflet is deeply divided into 2 more or less equal, narrow lobes. The upper surface is sparsely hairy, rarely hairless. The lower surface is densely covered with long, soft, shaggy, but unmatted hairs.
Stem leaves are similar to the basal leaves but are smaller and are attached to the stem without a leak stalk.
The inflorescence is a single flower at the end of a long, stout, stalk. The stalk is densely covered with long, soft, shaggy, but unmatted hairs.
The flowers ar large and showy, up to 3″ across. They have 5 to 7 petal-like sepals. There are no petals. The sepals are white on the upper surface. The lower surface is densely hairy and purple or purplish-white, rarely white. There is a central, elongated, column-like cluster of white or purple styles surrounded by 150 to 200 yellow stamens.
The fruit is a flattened achene with a ¾″ to 1″ long fluffy plume.
Height
4″ to 16″
Flower Color
White sepals, yellow center
Similar Species
No similar species
Habitat
Dry to moderate moisture. Prairies, hillsides, bluffs. Full sun.
Ecology
Flowering
Late March to May
American pasqueflower is the first wildflower to bloom in the spring on Minnesota prairies. The weather will determine when the first bloom appears. It has been seen in bloom in southern Minnesota as early as March 31. Dense silky hairs on the stout stem helps to trap warm air on cold spring nights. Look for it on south- or west-facing prairie hillsides.
Though this is an early bloomer it is not an ephemeral—it does not die back to the ground after blooming. The distinctive, low, green, mounded leaves can be seen into late summer if not hidden by dense prairie grasses and forbs. In the fall the leaves turn yellow.
Pests and Diseases
Use
American pasqueflower is the state flower of South Dakota.
Distribution
Sources
Biodiversity occurrence data published by: Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas (accessed through the Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas Portal, bellatlas.umn.edu. Accessed 3/2/2026).
Midwest Herbaria Portal. 2026. https://midwestherbaria.org/portal/index.php. Accessed 3/2/2026.
Anemone patens var. multifida (DC.) Spreng. in GBIF Secretariat (2023). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org. Accessed 3/2/2026.
Nativity
Native
Occurrence
Common
Taxonomy
Kingdom
Subkingdom
Pteridobiotina
Phylum
Tracheophyta (Vascular Plants)
Class
Order
Ranunculales (Buttercups, Poppies, and Allies)
Family
Ranunculaceae (Buttercup)
Subfamily
Ranunculoideae (Anemones, Buttercups, Larkspurs, and Allies)
Tribe
Anemoneae (Anemones and Allies)
Genus
Pulsatilla (Pasqueflowers)
Subgenus
Pulsatilla
Section
Pulsatilla
The appropriate classification of this species has been in contention for many years, and it remains so today.
Genus
At least ten recent phylogenetic studies from 1995 to 2015 support a broad circumscription of the genus Anemone sensu lato (Anemone in a broad sense) to include Pulsatilla, Hepatica, and several other genera. However, that acceptance would require hundreds of new taxonomic names, including for many important cultivated species. Making those changes is considered “not desirable”.
A recent review of the issue (Mosyakin, 2016) proposed a “pragmatic circumscription.” Several clades had been revealed within Anemone sensu lato by recent molecular phylogenetic studies. Some other groups were recently recognized in the literature based on morphology. Mosyakin proposed grouping the many genera and groups into just six genera: Hepatica, Anemonastrum, Knowltonia, Pulsatilla, Anemone, and Anemoclema.
The proposal has been widely but not universally accepted.
Species
North American plants in the Pulsatilla patens group were recognized (Dutton et al., 1997) as Anemone patens var. multifida. That plant is very different from the European and Western Asian species Pulsatilla patens sensu lato. The correct name of the North American species is Pulsatilla nuttaliana. As an alternative, if the North American plants are treated as the same as the Siberian and Northeastern Asian plants, already known as Pulsatilla nuttaliana ssp. multifida, and a wider circumscription of Pulsatilla patens is preferred, then the name Pulsatilla patens ssp. multifida can be applied.
Based on this, the correct name for the North American plants is either Pulsatilla nuttaliana or Pulsatilla patens ssp. multifida.
Some sources use the narrowly circumscribed name Pulsatilla nuttaliana. These include iNaturalist, NatureServe, Plants of the World Online, World Plants Plant List, and Database of Vascular Plants of Canada (VASCAN).
Some sources use the widely circumscribed name Pulsatilla patens ssp. multifida. These include GBIF, NCBI, USDA Plants, and World Flora Online.
Some sources reject the “pragmatic circumscription”, favoring the results supported by molecular research. They use the name Anemone patens var. multifida. These include GRIN, ITIS, and Flora of North America.
In short, there is no “right” name, only your “preferred” name.
Subordinate Taxa
Synonyms
Anemone ludoviciana
Anemone multifida
Anemone nuttalliana
Anemone patens ssp. multifida
Anemone patens var. multifida
Anemone patens var. nuttalliana
Anemone patens var. wolfgangiana
Anemone wolfgangiana
Pulsatilla hirsutissima
Pulsatilla ludoviciana
Pulsatilla multifida
Pulsatilla nuttaliana
Pulsatilla nuttaliana ssp. multifida
Pulsatilla nuttaliana ssp. nuttaliana
Pulsatilla patens ssp. asiatica
Pulsatilla patens ssp. hirsutissima
Pulsatilla patens ssp. multifida
Pulsatilla patens var. wolfgangiana
Common Names
American pasqueflower
crocus
cutleaf anemone
eastern pasqueflower
pasque flower
pasqueflower
prairie crocus
prairie pasqueflower
prairie smoke
prairie-crocus
prairie-smoke
pulsatille
sticky pasqueflower
