Flower:

A single flower 1 to 2 inches across at the top of a densely hairy stalk, with 5 to 7 (typically 6) blue-violet to white petal-like sepals and numerous yellow stamens surrounding a light green columnar center. The sepals are pointed at the tip and lined with numerous parallel veins.

Leaves and stem:

There is a whorl of 3 stalkess leaves just below the flower. All leaves are palmately compound and divided into several narrow segments, generally kidney-shaped in outline.

A few basal leaves on long stalks emerge after the flowers bloom. Leaves and stems are densely covered in long silky hairs. The stems elongate when the fruit starts developing. A plant often has several stems.

Fruit:

Fruit is a seed head covered in pinkish purple feathery plumes up to 1½ inches long, which are the remains of the styles, each attached to a single seed. The plume facilitates dispersal by wind.

Seeds are 3 to 5 millimeters long, spindle-shaped to elliptic, brown covered in long white hairs.

Notes:

Pasqueflower is one of the first flowers to bloom in the spring, often coming up while there is still snow on the ground. Look for it on south facing slopes in dry to average sandy soil, typically in scattered clumps. It does very well as a garden plant. This species also commonly goes by Latin name Pulsatilla patens and less commonly Pulsatilla nuttalliana. There are multiple varieties (or subspecies, depending on the reference) with A. patens var. multifida found in Minnesota and much of North America.