Leaf
Liliane Roubaudi, Tela Botanica · CC BY-SA 2.0
Pasque flower
Pulsatilla vulgaris Mill.
Also known as: Common pasqueflower
Family: Ranunculaceae
10 to 20 cm tall
Dry meadows, rock gardens, gardens, calcareous soils
Flowering: March – May
Full sun
Hardy to -25°C
❓ How do you recognise this plant?
After flowering, its fruits form a silvery, silky tuft just as decorative as the flower itself.
🍃 Leaves
Very finely divided, covered in a fine silvery down
🌸 Flowers
Large purple bell-shaped flowers, covered in silky hairs
🍎 Fruits
Achenes topped by a long feathery awn forming a silky tuft
🪵 Bark
Compact basal clump
🗺️ Distribution
Europe; rare and protected in dry calcareous grasslands in France, in sharp decline.
🐝 Value for pollinators
Large, very early purple flowers, rich in pollen for the first bees of spring.
✂️ Horticultural uses
Rock gardens, free-draining beds; early flowering followed by very decorative feathery achenes, a protected species best obtained as a garden-grown plant rather than taken from the wild.
⚠️ Possible toxicity
Toxic, contains irritant protoanemonin; causes skin and digestive irritation if ingested.
🌿 Other Ranunculaceae to discover
ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.
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