Prairie crocus

Pulsatilla patens
Plant flowering in Boulder, CO
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
Order:	Ranunculales
Family:	Ranunculaceae
Genus:	Pulsatilla
Species:	P. patens
Binomial name
Pulsatilla patens (L.) Mill.
Synonyms
Anemone ludoviciana Nutt., nom. illeg. Anemone multifida (Pritz.) Zämelis, non Poir. Anemone nuttalliana DC. Pulsatilla hirsutissima (Pursh) Britton Pulsatilla ludoviciana A. Heller, nom. illeg. Pulsatilla nuttalliana (DC.) Spreng.

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

Pulsatilla patens is often placed in the genus Anemone, as Anemone patens L..

Pulsatilla patens is the provincial flower of Manitoba, Canada and (as P. hirsutissima) is the state flower of South Dakota, United States.

Advocates report that the population of Pulsatilla patens is declining, due to the synergy between the prairie crocus and shortgrass prairie ecosystems. Plowing up the prairie causes the crocus to disappear.

Two subspecies have been distinguished:

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Wikipedia