Pasque flower, or an example of how I research plant names

Pasque flowers blooming in the garden. June 4, 2026.
Look at the fluffy fur collars on this gorgeous group. 

Oh the fuzzy pasque flower.  Also known as the prairie crocus.  

This is yet another friend I can't wait to see year to year.   I just learned that the word 'pasque' has roots in both old French and Hebrew words for easter or passover.   This lovely blog post goes into more details about the plant as a whole - including propagation from seed.   

This one growing in the garden is most the European or Eastern pasque flower, since I planted it years ago from a nursery.  Alaska does have a native one. 

The internet is amazing.    I love stumbling on blogs that are both personal and informative that also have no ads.  I think in this age of AI, of pushed advertising, the pressures of platforms, a simple blog allows us to just write.  So what if it sounds like a journal entry?  So what if you don't learn anything?  

Except... we have to practice discernment and vet our sources.  We need to check facts and try not to spread incorrect information.  Plants are especially tricky.  

This post is actually a fantastic opportunity for me to explain how I begin research plants online.  I learned this process thru the University of Alaska Ethnobotany program taught by Lisa Strecker.  

1.  Remember that most online sources are just repeated Google searches.  

This or wikipedia is just a starting point.   Sure, it can help get a scientific name quickly and gives us a quick overview, but remember it is a compilation of many sources, not necessarily original.  The more popular the plant, the more this happens.   Human made, or, now with the AI summaries, these are even more tricky to fact check.  Both are also still potentially flawed and very much incomplete.

2.  Visit Itis.gov.

I enter the name I found and check and see if it's the most correct and current scientific name. Taxonomic flora names fluctuate as more information, research and genetic data shows up.  This matters, because names of plants are where the most confusion occurs.   

In this case, for instance, while looking up the scientific name and distribution map for the Alaska species of pasque flower, I learned that in fact, the most current scientific name is now Anemone patens var. multifida  Pritz.  Below is the example for the pasque flower endemic to Alaska.  Look at all the synonyms! 

https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=532147#null

3.  Take the current, accepted scientific name and visit GBIF.org.  

Interesting... in this example, the variety has no occurrences, but the subspecies has 156 entries.  Not very many, but it looks pretty accurately distributed on the global map.  

Also, fascinating!  Oftentimes iNaturalist provides GBIF with recent, in situ photos of the native plant, but in this case the gallery is comprised of pressed herbarium species.  Beautiful.    

Also interesting, the synonym, Pulsatilla patens subsp. multifida (Pritz.) Zämelis has around 1000 entries, but some of them look out of range.   More gallery photos and notes to peruse. 

Distribution of subspecies: https://www.gbif.org/species/3924212

Distribution of var. synonym:   https://www.gbif.org/species/6375943

4.  Cross reference with efloras.org 

This site sometimes is flagged as insecure - but they aren't requesting any personal information to engage with it so I accept the risk).  Here you can get the botanical description and see the distribution map.  

Description:  http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=233500080

Distribution map:  http://www.efloras.org/object_page.aspx?object_id=5530&flora_id=1

Do I have all I need?  No.  That's just the start to gain a larger understanding of all the different names the plant might be called, both common and scientific.   Then I can use this knowledge to cross reference with books, journal articles and other reputable websites to seek more information about the plant, in the topic I'm curious about, whether that's herbal practices, stories, or materials, chemical constituents or something else entirely.  

Boring?  Not to me. 

Love Oona