Prairie Crocus

Prairie Crocus flowers appear as soon as the snow melts in sunny, open areas and sandy hillsides from British Columbia to Ontario and south through the central United States. The upright, bluish-purple flowers are cup-shaped with 5-7 petal-like sepals (1.5 in across). The flowers appear before the leaves and very close to the ground.

The low-lying plants have gray-green leaves with many separate leaflets and are covered in woolly white hairs. The flowers turn into long, feathery clusters of seeds.

Could it be? Canada Anemones and Cut-leaved Anemones are similar in appearance but flower later in the year in early summer.

Did you know? Prairie Crocuses have many different names, including Windflower, Prairie Smoke, and Pasque Flower.

See Also: White Pasqueflower

Easy - numerous and usually easy to spot in the habitats listed at the appropriate time of year.

Grasslands are large open areas covered with grasses. They have very few trees or shrubs. This habitat includes prairies and tundra.