Aquilegia
Aquilegia coerulea
ancolie, columbine
Colorado blue columbine
15-80 cm.
blade 1-3x-ternately compound, leaflets lobed or parted, margins crenate.
(1-)2(-3)×-ternately compound, 9-37 cm, much shorter than stems;
leaflets green adaxially, to 13-42(-61) mm, not viscid;
primary petiolules (10-)20-70 mm (leaflets not crowded), glabrous or occasionally pilose.
terminal, 1-10-flowered cymes or solitary flowers, to 30 cm;
bracts leaflike, not forming involucre.
bisexual, radially symmetric;
sepals not persistent in fruit, 5, white to blue, yellow, or red, plane, narrowly ovate to oblong-lanceolate, short-clawed, 7-51 mm;
petals 5, distinct, white to blue, yellow, or red, oblong to rounded or spatulate blade, 0-30 mm, base backward-pointing tubular spur, apex plane;
nectary in ± enlarged tip of spur;
stamens many;
filaments filiform; scalelike staminodes usually present between stamens and pistils;
pistils 5-10, simple;
ovules many per pistil;
beak present.
erect;
sepals perpendicular to floral axis, white, blue, or sometimes pink, elliptic-ovate to lance-ovate, 26-51 × 8-23 mm, apex obtuse to acute or acuminate;
petals: spurs white, blue, or sometimes pink, straight, ± parallel or divergent, 28-72 mm, slender, evenly tapered from base, blades white, oblong or spatulate, 13-28 × 5-14 mm;
stamens 13-24 mm.
follicles, aggregate, sessile, cylindric, sides prominently veined;
beak terminal, straight, 3-26 mm.
black, obovoid, smooth.
20-30 mm;
beak 8-12 mm.
= 7.
Aquilegia
Aquilegia coerulea
Species ca. 70 (21 in the flora).
Species of Aquilegia are polymorphic and difficult to define adequately. Some of the variability is because of introgressive hybridization. Even distantly related species of columbine are often freely interfertile, and many cases of natural hybridization and introgression are known from North America. Only the most important are mentioned below. In arid areas Aquilegia species tend to form small populations often completely isolated from one another. This leads to local fixation of genes and therefore increased variability in species such as A. micrantha and A. desertorum. In addition, populations with spurless petals are occasionally found in many species.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Varieties 4 (4 in the flora).
Aquilegia coerulea shows considerable geographic variation in flower color and in size of different floral organs, reflecting adaptation to different pollinators in different parts of its range (R. B. Miller 1981). Four weakly differentiated varieties are recognized.
Aquilegia coerulea var. coerulea and A. coerulea var. ochroleuca intergrade to some extent; northwestern populations of var. coerulea often contain individuals with pale flowers, and eastern populations of var. ochroleuca often contain blue-flowered plants.
The Gosivte tribe chewed the seeds of Aquilegia coerulea or used an infusion made from the roots to treat abdominal pains or as a panacea (D. E. Moerman 1986).
Most authors have spelled the epithet "caerulea"; "coerulea" is the original spelling.
Columbine (as Aquilegia caerulea) is the state flower of Colorado.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Spurs hooked, 3-22 mm; sepals white or blue. | → 2 |
1. Spurs straight or nearly so (sometimes tips incurved in A. flavescens), 8-180 mm; sepals blue, white, cream, yellow, pink, or red (A. flavescens with yellow or pink sepals). | → 5 |
2. Spurs 14-22 mm; introduced species, at low elevations (0-1500 m). | A. vulgaris |
2. Spurs 3-10 mm; native, at high elevations or high latitudes. | → 3 |
3. Basal leaves much shorter than stems. | A. brevistyla |
3. Basal leaves about as long as stems. | → 4 |
4. Sepals and spurs white or nearly so; Wyoming. | A. laramiensis |
4. Sepals and spurs blue; Colorado. | A. saximontana |
5. Sepals and spurs blue, white, cream, reddish purple, or occasionally pink (if pink then with no trace of yellow); flowers usually erect (sometimes nodding in A. micrantha); spurs slender (stout at least proximally in A. jonesii), evenly tapered from base. | → 6 |
5. Sepals and spurs yellow, pink and yellow, or red; flowers erect or nodding; spur shape various. | → 9 |
6. Leaflets viscid. | A. micrantha |
6. Leaflets not viscid. | → 7 |
7. Spurs 8-15 mm. | A. jonesii |
7. Spurs 25-70(-72) mm. | → 8 |
8. Leaflets glaucous on both sides, 5-14 mm, crowded (primary petiolules 3-15 mm); spurs 25-40 mm. | A. scopulorum |
8. Leaflets green adaxially, 13-42(-61) mm, not crowded, primary petiolules (10-)20-70 mm; spurs 28-72 mm. | A. coerulea |
9. Sepals red (at least proximally); spurs red (red proximally, then pink in A. shockleyi), stout (at least proximally), abruptly narrowed near middle, 12-32 mm; flowers nodding or pendent. | → 10 |
9. Sepals and spurs yellow or pink; spurs slender (except for A. flavescens and A. barnebyi), evenly tapered from base (sometimes abruptly narrowed near middle in A. flavescens and A. micrantha), 10-180 mm; flowers usually erect, sometimes nodding. | → 15 |
10. Sepals perpendicular to floral axis; petal blades 0-6 mm. | → 11 |
10. Sepals parallel to or divergent from floral axis; petal blades 4-12 mm. | → 13 |
11. Mouth of spur cut obliquely backward; stamens 17-30 mm. | A. eximia |
11. Mouth of spur truncate or with short blade; stamens 12-17 mm. | → 12 |
12. Leaflets glaucous on both sides; petal blades 2-5 mm. | A. shockleyi |
12. Leaflets green adaxially; petal blades 0-6 mm. | A. formosa |
13. Sepals red proximally, yellow-green distally, not much longer than petal blades; stamens 8-14 mm. | A. elegantula |
13. Sepals red or apex green or yellow-green, about 2 times length of petal blades; stamens 14-23 mm. | → 14 |
14. Blades of petals pale yellow or yellow-green; basal leaves 2×-ternately compound, leaflets to 17-52 mm; e North America, w to c Texas. | A. canadensis |
14. Blades of petals yellow or red and yellow; basal leaves 2-3×-ternately compound, leaflets to 9-26(-32) mm; Arizona, New Mexico, Utah. | A. desertorum |
15. Spurs 42-180 mm. | → 16 |
15. Spurs 10-40 mm. | → 18 |
16. Spurs 72-180 mm; petal blades spatulate. | A. longissima |
16. Spurs 42-70 mm; petal blades oblong, not much broadened distally. | → 17 |
17. Sepals 14-18 mm wide. | A. hinckleyana |
17. Sepals 5-10 mm wide. | A. chrysantha |
18. Spurs yellow, stout, ± incurved, 10-18 mm; flowers nodding. | A. flavescens |
18. Spurs yellow to pink or cream, slender, straight, 15-40 mm; flowers erect to nodding. | → 19 |
19. Beak 15-18 mm; sepals 9-19 mm, yellow; se New Mexico, w Texas. | A. chaplinei |
19. Beak 8-12 mm; sepals not as above: either cream or pink or if yellow, then (15-)20-25 mm; Colorado, Arizona to California. | → 20 |
20. Sepals (15-)20-25 mm, petal blades 8-17 mm, spurs 25-40 mm; flowers erect; California. | A. pubescens |
20. Sepals 8-20 mm, petal blades 6-10 mm, spurs 14-30 mm; flowers nodding or erect; Colorado, Arizona, Utah. | → 21 |
21. Leaflets viscid, green adaxially. | A. micrantha |
21. Leaflets not viscid, glaucous on both surfaces. | A. barnebyi |
1. Petal blades 13–17 mm. | var. alpina |
1. Petal blades 19–28 mm. | → 2 |
2. Sepals medium to deep blue. | var. coerulea |
2. Sepals white, pale blue, or pink. | → 3 |
3. Spurs 36–54 mm (means of populations 40–48 mm); stamens 13–18 mm; Utah to Nevada, Montana. | var. ochroleuca |
3. Spurs 45–72 mm (means of populations 50–58 mm); stamens 18–24 mm; Utah, Arizona. | var. pinetorum |
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