Pasque flowers have a showy，beautiful blossom that is composed of 5to 7sepals（萼片）that look like petals．True petals are lacking．The flowers are radially（放射状地）symmetrical and grow to be 1to 4inches（2．5—10．2cm）wide．Leaves on the stem are silky，haired，sessile（［植］（花，叶等）无柄的），and arranged in a whorl beneath the petal－like sepals．The basal leaves，typical of all plants in the buttercup（［植］毛茛科）family，have long，hairy petioles（叶柄）and are deeply indented，producing narrow，linear palmate（手掌状的）lobes（［植］圆裂片）．A similar species，not found in South Dakota is the western pasque flower．It can be distinguished by its smaller flowers that are lighter in color．
Distribution
The pasque flower is found across much of North America from approximately（大约）43degrees to 60degrees north latitude（纬度）．It is found from Alaska，south to Utah，east to Illinois and west to Alberta．Pasqueflowers prefer plains，foothills and mountain meadows（草地，牧场）at altitudes（海拔高度）from 4，000to 10，000feet（1231－3077m）．In eastern South Dakota，pasque flower growth can be quite luxuriant（丰产的），though it becomes more sparse（稀少的）west of the Missouri River．With agriculture and ranching（大农场），pasque flowers are not as abundant as they once were，but they are still locally common in the Black Hills，Slim Buttes，and Cave Hills．
Natural History
Pasque flowers are the first sign that spring has arrived in South Dakota．These lovely blossoms peak through the snow beginning in late March．By midsummer（仲夏，夏至），their life cycle is complete．
Anemones are wind flowers；their seeds are dispersed（散布）by the wind so that new plants develop away from the parent plant．The plants develop quickly in the spring by sending out a hairy stem with a whorl（［植］轮生体）of bracts（［植］苞叶，苞）and a flower bud that grows 4to 15inches（10－38cm）in height．As the plant matures，a woody，persistent stem develops just beneath the soil．Each year，this stem gives rise to new growth of leaves and flowers．The flower will develop into a 1to 2．5inch（2．5－6．6cm）wide fruiting head with many small fruits（achenes），each of which has a long feathery（生有羽毛的）attachment that can catch the wind．
State Flag州旗
从1909年到1963年以前，此旗两边均有图案：正面是州印，反面是金色的太阳，周围写着文字。但是最后决定使用单面旗，于是便将两种图案结合在一起。就是现在我们看到的。在州印上是农民和牧场，主要描述的是南达科他州劳动人们，而树则代表着木材业，河流和轮船则分别代表着交通和贸易。本州在1963年使用该州旗。
From 1909until 1963，this flag had two sides—the state seal on one and a large golden sun with lettering（书写的文字）around it on the reverse．But when it was decided to keep just one，the designs were combined．The original design was by Senator Ernest May and Doane Robinson，secretary of the State Historical Society．The redesign（重新设计）was done by Will Robinson，Doane Robinson’s son．The seal shows a farmer and a rancher（〈美〉牧场），depicting the kind of work of the people of South Dakota．The trees represent the lumber（〈美〉木材）industry，and the river and steamboat，transportation and trade．The gold band is a reminder of the state’s nickname．
State Song州歌
Hail！South Dakota！
Hail！South Dakota，A great state of the land，
Health，wealth and beauty，That’s what makes her grand；
She has her Black Hills，And mines with gold so rare，
And with her scenery（风景，景色），No other state can compare．
Come where the sun shines，And where life’s worth your while，
You won’t be here long，’Till you’ll wear a smile；
No state’s so healthy，And no folk quite so true，
To South Dakota．We welcome you．
Hail！South Dakota，The state we love the best，
Land of our fathers，Builders of the west；
Home of the Badlands，and Rushmore’s ageless
（不老的，永恒的）shrine（圣地），
Black Hills and prairies，Farmland and Sunshine．
Hills，farms and prairies，Blessed with bright Sunshine．
Facts and Trivia相关资料
1．Sculptor［Gutzon Borglum began drilling into the 6，200－foot Mount Rushmore in 1927．Creation of the Shrine to Democracy took 14years and cost a mere 1million，though it’s now deemed（认为，相信）priceless（无价的，极贵重的）．
2．The faces of George Washington，Thomas Jefferson，Theodore Roosevelt，and Abraham Lincoln are sculpted（雕刻）into Mount Rushmore the world’s greatest mountain carving．
3．Fossilized（使成化石）remains of life 50million years ago have been arranged in unusual forms，which is Lemmon’s mark of distinction at the world’s largest petrified wood park．
4．Perhaps the most significant fur trade／military fort on the western American frontier，Fort Pierre Chouteau was the largest（almost 300′square）and best equipped trading post in the northern Great Plains．Built in 1832by John Jacob Astor’s（1763—1848）American Fur Company as part of its expansion into the Upper Missouri region，the trading activities at the site exemplified the commercial（商业的，贸易的）alliance（联盟，联合）critical to the success of the fur business．
5．Jack McCall was tried，convicted and hanged two miles north of Yankton in 1877for the shooting of Wild Bill Hickok．He is buried in an unmarked grave in the Yankton cemetery（墓地）．
6．The site of a rich gold strike in 1875，Deadwood（枯枝，朽木）retains its mining town atmosphere．While Deadwood is one of the most highly publicized mining towns of the trans－Mississippi West，much of its fame rests on the famous or infamous（声名狼籍的）characters that passed through．
7．Tom Brokaw of NBC graduated from Yankton High School and the University of South Dakota．
8．Belle Fourche is the geographical center of the United States of America，designated in 1959and noted by an official marker and sheepherder’s monument（纪念碑）called a“Stone Johnnie”．
9．Bowdle is known for the tallest water tower in South Dakota．
10．Clark is the Potato Capital of South Dakota．Clark is home to the world famous Mashed Potato Wrestling contest．
11．In 1803，U．S．President Thomas Jefferson purchased the Louisiana Territory from France，a real－estate deal that at the time doubled the size of the United States．
12．South Dakota is the home of the Dakota，Lakota and Nakota tribes，which make up the Sioux（苏语的）Nation．
13．Custer State Park is home to a herd of 1，500free－roaming bison（美洲或欧洲的野牛）．Bison can weigh as much as 2，000pounds．Historically，the bison played an essential role in the lives of the Lakota（Sioux），who relied on the“tatanka”for food，clothing and shelter．