The plumed pasque flower resembles the fruiting stage of another prairie resident, prairie smoke, but the two species are unrelated. Pasque flower's plume is silvery to greenish-white while prairie smoke's fruiting plume is brick red. Pasque flower is so named because it blooms about the time of two important religious ceremonies. Later, the French altered the name to passefleur or pasque flower as a reference to Easter. That name persists today.
Pasque flowers are a welcome sign of spring.
They remind us that despite the fitful nature of spring's arrival, the season is progressing and will soon surround us in all its glory. About the author Anita Carpenter pokes the ground looking for spring ephemerals near her Oshkosh, Wis. home.