A flower for Easter. The Pasqueflower (Pulsatilla vulgaris) blooms in April, its common name derives from archaic French ("pasque" or "pasques" meaning Easter) or perhaps the Hebrew "pasakh" meaning Passover.

 I was thrilled to see these few when I took a walk over the chalk hills near Hitchin earlier in the week. Not only are they rare in Hertfordshire they are very, very rare in the country as a whole. They persist in only a handful of sites and several of the best are in Herts. 

 Some wildflowers are generalists but Pulsatilla vulgaris requires a very specific habitat: sloping chalk grassland undisturbed but grazed to a short sward. Lore has it they grow in places where Viking blood was spilled. Perhaps that happened here though I haven't seen any Vikings recently. 

 Like Easter the arrival of the Pasqueflower varies by a week or two from year to year. More will follow; a hillside of Pasqueflowers in bloom is a wonderful thing to see.