PASQUEFLOWER--Anemone patens
Picture and information can be found on pages 222 and 223 of Grassland Plants of South Dakota and the Northern Great Plains, by James R. Johnson and Gary E. Larson.  Published in 1999 by South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD.
Description:  Pasqueflower is a perennial forb 4 to 12 inches tall.  Flowering begins in April or May when flower stalks emerge before the leaves expand.  Flowers are tulip-like, 1 to 2 inches long, varying in color from nearly white to pinkish-violet.  Leaves are densely silky when young, mostly basal, and dissected into many, narrow, linear divisions.  As achenes ripen in a cluster, they are tipped with long, feathery beaks.
Distribution, habitat:  Pasqueflower ranges from Alaska to Illinois and Missouri, New Mexico and Washington.  It also occurs across Eurasia.  In South Dakota, pasqueflower is found on grassy hillsides and in open wooded areas across the state.
Comments:  Pasqueflower is also called wild crocus, windflower, or mayflower.  Soon after snow melts, or before it melts for the last time, pasqueflower charms the prairies with large downy buds and then hardy, short-lived blossoms.  This plains beauty is the state flower of South Dakota, "...elected queen of flower land by the legislature of South Dakota, need never fear to stand in any flower company, however distinguished, however beautiful, however charming..."  Pasqueflower is normally not preferred by livestock.  Where deer are concentrated in spring, they can eliminate pasqueflower.  Pasqueflower has been used to some extent medically.  Dakota gave it special significance as the first flower of spring, believing its song encouraged other plants to awaken from their winter sleep and come up from the heart of the earth.