Pulsatilla Miller Pulsatilla alpina, (L.) Delarbre Pulsatilla alba, Reichenb.

16. Pulsatilla Miller View in CoL 1

Caespitose perennial herbs with a stout stock. Leaves usually 2- to 4-pinnately or -palmately divided, often sericeous when young. Cauline leaves usually sessile and united at base. Flowers solitary. Perianth-segments usually 6, silky beneath; nectarsecreting staminodes present. Styles elongating and feathery in fruit. The species are usually local, probably mainly owing to Postglacial climatic changes and intolerance of ploughing, shade and bad drainage; they display considerable variation in pubescence, dissection of leaves and size and colour of perianth-segments. These characters have been used as a basis for specific distinction, but correlations between characters that are reliable within a small area break down when larger areas are considered. The variation, in fact, appears to be of the ‘ dissected continuous’ type, rather than the discontinuous kind met with in related genera. The variation does not often appear to fall into the geographical pattern characteristic of subspecies. For example some populations of P. grandis from C. Europe do not seem to be morphologically distinguishable from P. vulgaris from N.W. Europe, though both differ markedly from some populations of P. vulgaris from France.

Literature: D. Aichele & H. W. Schwegler, Feddes Repert. 60:

1-230 (1957).; K. Krause, Bot. Jahrb. 78: 1-68 (1958). 1 Cauline leaves shortly petiolate, resembling the basal but smaller

2 Terminal segments of mature leaves not divided to midrib; lamina distinctly pubescent 1. alpina

2 Terminal segment of mature leaves divided to midrib; lamina almost or quite glabrous 2. alba

1 Cauline leaves sessile, divided into linear segments and not closely resembling the basal

3 Basal leaves palmately divided 9. patens

3 Basal leaves pinnately divided

4Basal leaves evergreen, 1-pinnate; segments lobed; flowers usually white 3. vernalis

4Basal leaves withering in autumn, 2- to 4-pinnate; flowers usually purple

5 Flowers erect

6 Basal leaves pinnate, with 3-5 primary segments, the terminal long-stalked; segments pinnatifid; plant persistently lanate 8. halleri

6 Basal leaves 3- to 4-pinnatisect, with 7-9 primary segments; plant at first sericeous, then glabrescent 7. vulgaris

5 Flowers nodding

7 Perianth-segments less than 11 times as long as stamens, recurved at apex 4. pratensis

7 Perianth-segments at least twice as long as stamens, not recurved at apex

8 Cauline leaves with c. 25 lobes; flowers bluish to dark violet 5. montana

8 Cauline leaves with c. 20 lobes; flowers reddish or sometimes dark violet 6. rubra

1. P. alpina (L.) Delarbre View in CoL , FI. Auvergne ed. 2, 552 (1800)

( Anemone alpina L. ).

20-45 cm. Basal leaves long-petiolate, distinctly pubescent, 2-pinnate; terminal segment not divided quite to midrib, lobes often recurved; cauline leaves similar, but with short, broad petioles. Flower 4-6 cm in diameter, more or less erect; perianth-segments ovate, outer purplish, inner white, or all pale yellow, sericeous. 2« =16. Mountains o f C. & S. Europe. Au Co G a Ge He Hs It Ju.

(a) Subsp. alpina :

Outer perianth-segments white or purplish, inner white; achenes c. 5 mm. Usually calcicole. Throughout the range o f the species.

(b) Subsp. apiifolia (Scop.) Nyman View in CoL , Consp. 2 (1878)

( subsp. sulphurea (DC.) Ascherson & Graebner ):

Perianth-segments pale yellow; achenes c. 4 mm. Usually calcifuge. Throughout the range o f the species.

2. P. alba Reichenb. View in CoL , FI. Germ. Excurs. 732 (1832)

(inch P. alpina subsp. austriaca Schwegler ).

Like 1 but usually smaller, with smaller flowers which are never yellow; terminal segments of mature leaves divided quite to the midrib, lobes not recurved; lamina almost or quite glabrous; flowers 2-5-4-3 cm in diameter. Usually calcifuge. Mountains o f C. Europe, extending to C. France and C. Jugoslavia. Au Cz G a Ge Ju Po Rm Rs (W).

3. P. vernalis (L.) Miller View in CoL , Gard. Diet. ed. 8, no. 3 (1768)

( Anemone vernalis L. ).

Stem 5-15 cm (up to 35 cm in fruit). Basal leaves shortly petiolate, evergreen, subglabrous, 1-pinnatifid with 3-5 dentate segments; cauline leaves sericeous; segments linear. Flower 4-6 cm in diameter, nodding, then erect; perianthsegments narrowly ovate, outer flushed pink, violet or blue, inner white, sericeous. 2n=16. From c. 63° N. in Scandinavia to S. Spain, N. Italy and Bulgaria. Au Bu Cz D a Fe G a Ge He Hs It Ju N o Po Rs (N, C) Su.

4. P. pratensis (L.) Miller View in CoL , Gard. Diet. ed. 8, no. 2 (1768)

( P. nigricans Störcke ; Anemone pratensis L. ).

Stem c. 10 cm (up to 45 cm in fruit). Basal leaves pubescent, petiolate, usually 3-pinnate; segments deeply cut into narrow lobes; lobes c. 150; cauline leaves united below, pubescent; lobes c. 30. Flowers 3-4 cm in diameter, more or less cylindrical, nodding, dark purple, reddish, pale violet, greenish-yellow or rarely white; perianth-segments recurved at apex, less than 1 | times as long as the stamens. 2« =16, 32. ® C. & E. Europe extending westwards to S.E. Norway, W. Denmark and N. Jugoslavia. Au?Bu Cz D a Ge Hu Ju N o Po Rm Rs (B, C, W, E) Su. The variation in flower-colour is correlated with distribution. Plants with dark purple flowers occur in the north, those with the flowers dirty yellow or pale greyish-violet inside occur in the south-east and those with pale violet flowers occur in the intervening area. They have been called subsp. nigricans (Störck) Zamels , subsp. hungarica Soó , and subsp. pratensis respectively.

5. P. montana (Hoppe) Reichenb. View in CoL , FI. Germ. Excurs. 733 (1832)

( Anemone montana Hoppe ).

Like 4 but cauline leaves with c. 25 lobes; flowers bluish to dark violet; perianth-segments not recurved at the apex but soon spreading from the base, and about twice as long as the stamens. 2«= 16. • From S.W. Switzerland to E. Romania and Bulgaria. Bu He Hu It Ju Rm.