Nebraskaland

Nebraskaland April 2019

NEBRASKAland Magazine is dedicated to outstanding photography and informative writing with an engaging mix of articles and photos highlighting Nebraska’s outdoor activities, parklands, wildlife, history and people.

Issue link: http://mag.outdoornebraska.gov/i/1099174

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Pasque fl ower (Anemone patens) is a perennial plant in the buttercup family. Other common names include wind fl ower and prairie crocus. Every part of the plant is covered with dense soft hairs, including the fl owers, which range in color from pale blue to violet. Those fl owers measure about an inch or two long and approximately 1½ inches across when open. Seeds are arranged in a spherical shape, and each seed is attached to a long feathery plume. The seed head closely resembles that of a clematis plant. Flowering can begin as early as late March and continue as late as early June, but peak bloom is typically in April. Pasque fl owers are often the fi rst plant to bloom in their neighborhood, or at least the fi rst plant to produce relatively large, showy fl owers. Because of this, and their overall attractiveness, they are popular horticultural plants and commonly used in gardens and landscaping. In the wild, pasque fl owers are found in scattered locations around Nebraska, but are most common in the northern Panhandle. They are also found here and there across most of the northern tier of counties and a few other isolated places around the state. Pasque fl owers usually grow in dry, often rocky soils in prairies or open pine woodlands and prefer full to partial sun. Even at only 6-8 inches tall, these pasque flowers added tremendous color and texture to the otherwise brown hills during late April at The Nature Conservancy's Niobrara Valley Preserve.

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