This distinctive buttercup is in full flower on the Limestone Rock Garden.
A member of the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae, Pulsatilla vulgaris is a British native, where it is a rarity occurring on limestone grassland in the Chilterns, East Anglia and Lincolnshire, but it also occurs from western France to the Ukraine. In Cambridgeshire it is noted as the county flower. It is an easily identifiable species with upwards-facing, bell-shaped flowers ranging from pale pink to purple, each with a central boss of yellow stamens. The young leaves are covered in soft, downy hairs, as are the calyx and outers of the petals. Flowering of this species often coincides with Easter, hence the common name pasque flower.