☙ Pasqueflower

☠︎ Genus Pulsatilla Mill. (1754).WFO

Period Breton (brezhoneg): diskrab m. LB

Period English: pasqueflower; Flora's bell; S&K zephyr's flower. EWW

Period French: coquelourde f. CLT LAM

Pulsatilla vulgaris: coquerette f. ('little shell');LB coquelourde f.;LB coucou m. ('cuckoo');LB herbe au vent f. ('windgrass');LB fleur du vent f. ('windflower');LB fleur de Pâques f. ('Easter flower');LB fleur aux dames f. ('ladies' flower');LB passe-fleur f. ('velvet-flower');LB teigne-œuf m. ('mite-egg');LB vigogne solide f..LB

Sentiments:

Vous êtes sans prétentionYou are without pretension ◼︎ (1811-1825); CLT LAM

You are without pretension ▲︎◆︎ (1840-1869); TM FSO HGA:LPF RT:LOF

You are without pretensions ▲︎ (1845); S&K

...

Expectation ▲︎◆︎ (1832-1884); EWW GAL JS CMK KG

Anxious expectation ▲︎ (1832); EWW

See also Anemone.

...

You have no claims ▲︎◆︎ (1867-1884); GAL JS KG

...

Sickness ▲︎◆︎ (1871-1884); JS CMK

See also meadow pasqueflower.

Region:

Native: TBC.

Introduced: TBC.

Seasonality: Perennial, flowering spring (late March to early May in the northern hemisphere).

Period Colours:

Pulsatilla vernalis:

Leaves pinnate; flowers red without, and white within. EWW

Heraldry:

Pulsatilla vernalis:

County flower of former Norway county Oppland, appearing on their coat of arms (granted 1989) and flag in an arrangement I would describe as Vert, two spring pasqueflowers argent. In Norwegian, this flower is called 'mogop'.

Province flower of Härjedalen, Sweden, where it is called 'mosippa', since 1908, which it shares with Viola biflora, a yellow violet called 'fjällviol' in Swedish.Wikipedia

I have also seen it referenced as the county flower of South Karelia in Finland, but I cannot find a more formal source for this.

Pulsatilla vulgaris:

Voted county flower of Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire in England in Plantlife's 2002 survey. Plantlife

Religious: TBC.

Included Species:

Pulsatilla pratensis Mill. (1768), meadow pasqueflower

= Anemone pratensis L. (1753);WFO JDS

Pulsatilla vernalis Mill. (1768), spring pasqueflower

= Anemone vernalis L. (1753);WFO EWW

Pulsatilla vulgaris Mill. (1768) NT (vulnerable in the UK), European pasqueflower.WFO

Cited Verse:

TBC.

🜱 A note on 'Flora's bell': This name was a little difficult to track down, but I believe I've correctly identified it in a note within A supplement to Mr. Chambers's cyclopædia, or, Universal dictionary of arts and sciences (1753), which reads:

CAMPANA-floræ, in botany, a name given by Helwing and ſome other of the German authors to the plant we call pulſatilla, or the paſque flower. It was named campana floræ, or Flora's bell, by Helwing, becauſe of its being the ſignal of the approach of ſpring, and as it were the caller forth of the other flowers. (459)

🜱 I can find no other references to 'Flora's bell', but given the context of the sentiment S&K assign it, You are without pretensions, Pulsatilla aligns neatly with other authors.

🜱 Flower spotting: P. vulgaris are on the decline in the wild, particularly in Britain, where they are subject to a biodiversity action plan to aid their recovery. To the degree I must stress it, please do not collect this flower in the wild. The Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland advises, however, that you can view these beautiful flowers in profusion in April in the Herts and Middlesex Trust's Church Hill reserve on Therfield heath, close to Royston.

See also Meadow pasqueflower, Anemone, Broad-leaved anemone, and Wood anemone.

☙ Pasqueflower