When is a Crocus not a Crocus? When it’s Manitoba’s floral symbol, the Prairie Crocus. European settlers called them Prairie Crocuses because they reminded them of their favorite spring bulbs from home; but the Prairie Crocus isn’t a bulb at all, it’s one of the toughest and most intriguing members of the Buttercup family.

As the early settlers knew, surviving a prairie winter takes grit. When it came time to choose their provincial flower in 1906, they chose a plant that’s not just hardy; this flower pushes its way up through the snow to bloom weeks before almost everything else.

A few strategies help the Prairie Crocus get the jump on spring: first, they locate themselves on well-grazed hillsides or fall-burned fields. This means there is no layer of leaves or mulch over the earth so the soil heats up quicker under the spring sun. The plant itself is much more muscular than its delicate appearance indicates. It grows low to keep out of the freezing wind, sup-ported by a heavy caudex (toughened stem base) attached to surprisingly bulky roots.

The Prairie Crocus is also the poster plant for efficient use of resources. It is brilliantly designed for collecting solar energy: the purple sepals that form the bloom spread out into a parabolic dish that reflects and concentrates sunlight so well that the centre of the flower will be an average of ten degrees warmer than the air around the plant. All these clever strategies mean that the Prairie Crocus can take full advantage of the first hungry bees and beetles, get pollination over with, and have seed production well under way by the time the rest of the prairie plant world is just waking up!

Along with being misnamed as a Crocus, naming this flower seems to have gotten completely out of hand: it’s also called Blue Tulip, Rock Lily, April Fool, Lion’s Beard, Pasque Flower, Badger, Wild Crocus, Wind Flower, Sand Flower and many more.
First Nations people also waxed poetic when it came to this one. The Lakota people call it Hosi Cekpa which means child’s navel. The Sioux call it Hokshi-Chekpa Wa Cha ‘Twinflower’ because there are always two blooms on each plant. The soft, feathery foliage inspired a number of names including Gosling Flower, Earth’s Ear and Prairie Smoke.

At the center of the Blackfoot creation story is the old man known as Napi. This is the same word they use for this plant. It’s easy to see why as the plant ripens and produces its seed pod: it’s round and grey, covered with fine, wispy hairs that drift in the wind.
Native people practiced great caution with all medicinal uses of these plants because, like Poison Ivy, it can cause skin eruptions and can even be lethal if taken internally. It required a very skilled healer to draw the good from this plant. In just the right amounts, it was used to treat rheumatism, boils, burns and cataracts. The Chippewa would sniff dried leaves to get rid of a headache, while the Cheyenne would smash the roots and pass them over a body to revive the individual.

All spring flowers hold a special place in our hearts. Prairie Crocus take that spirit of renewal and revival to new heights. Anyone who has ever seen a Manitoba hillside washed with purple knows that the long winter is over and spring is finally here!