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columbines
Aquilegia
Aquilegia, commonly known as columbines, is a genus of perennial flowering plants in subfamily Thalictroideae of the family Ranunculaceae (buttercups). The genus includes between 70 and 400 taxa (described species and subspecies) with natural ranges across the Northern Hemisphere. Natural and introduced populations of Aquilegia exist on all continents but Antarctica. Known for their high physical variability and ease of hybridization, columbines are popular garden plants and have created many cultivated varieties.
Aquilegia plants typically possess stiff stems and leaves that divide into multiple leaflets. Columbines often have colorful flowers with five sepals and five petals. The petals generally feature nectar spurs which differ in length between species. In North America, morphological variations in spurs evolved to suit different pollinators. Some species and varieties of columbines are naturally spurless. In cultivation, varieties bearing significantly altered physical traits such as double flowering are prevalent.
60 branches of this genus, most-observed first
red columbine
speciesAquilegia canadensis
Aquilegia vulgaris
complexAquilegia vulgaris
western columbine
speciesAquilegia formosa
blue columbine
speciesAquilegia coerulea
golden columbine
speciesAquilegia chrysantha
yellow columbine
speciesAquilegia flavescens
western red columbine
speciesAquilegia elegantula
Sierra Columbine
speciesAquilegia pubescens
Small-flower Columbine
speciesAquilegia brevistyla
Siberian columbine
speciesAquilegia sibirica
Alpine Columbine
speciesAquilegia alpina
Van Houtte's Columbine
speciesAquilegia eximia
Aquilegia viridiflora
complexAquilegia viridiflora
desert columbine
speciesAquilegia desertorum
Aquilegia olympica
speciesAquilegia olympica
Altai Columbine
speciesAquilegia glandulosa
Oriental columbine
speciesAquilegia oxysepala
Utah Columbine
speciesAquilegia scopulorum
Einsel's Columbine
speciesAquilegia einseleana
alcove columbine
speciesAquilegia micrantha
Aquilegia × miniana
hybridAquilegia × miniana
Pyrenean Columbine
speciesAquilegia pyrenaica
longspur columbine
speciesAquilegia longissima
Aquilegia yabeana
speciesAquilegia yabeana
Aquilegia confusa
speciesAquilegia confusa
Jones' Columbine
speciesAquilegia jonesii
Fan Columbine
speciesAquilegia flabellata
Aquilegia atrovinosa
speciesAquilegia atrovinosa
Rocky Mountain Blue Columbine
speciesAquilegia saximontana
Skinner's Columbine
speciesAquilegia skinneri
Aquilegia dumeticola
speciesAquilegia dumeticola
dwarf columbine
speciesAquilegia buergeriana
Desert Columbine
speciesAquilegia shockleyi
Aquilegia parviflora
speciesAquilegia parviflora
Aquilegia ophiolithica
speciesAquilegia ophiolithica
Aquilegia jucunda
speciesAquilegia jucunda
Aquilegia reuteri
speciesAquilegia reuteri
Foster's columbine
speciesAquilegia fosteri
Oil Shale Columbine
speciesAquilegia barnebyi
Aquilegia bernardii
speciesAquilegia bernardii
Aquilegia ecalcarata
speciesAquilegia ecalcarata
Aquilegia formosa × pubescens
hybridAquilegia formosa × pubescens
Laramie Columbine
speciesAquilegia laramiensis
Aquilegia bertolonii
speciesAquilegia bertolonii
Aquilegia rockii
speciesAquilegia rockii
Aquilegia lucensis
speciesAquilegia lucensis
Aquilegia kitaibelii
speciesAquilegia kitaibelii
Aquilegia iulia
speciesAquilegia iulia
Aquilegia aurea
speciesAquilegia aurea
Atwood's columbine
speciesAquilegia atwoodii
Himalayan Columbine
speciesAquilegia pubiflora
Aquilegia discolor
speciesAquilegia discolor
Aquilegia cazorlensis
speciesAquilegia cazorlensis
Aquilegia amurensis
speciesAquilegia amurensis
Aquilegia hirsutissima
speciesAquilegia hirsutissima
Aquilegia montsicciana
speciesAquilegia montsicciana
Aquilegia vicaria
speciesAquilegia vicaria
Aquilegia kansuensis
speciesAquilegia kansuensis
Aquilegia borodinii
speciesAquilegia borodinii
Aquilegia daingolica
speciesAquilegia daingolica
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the old herbals & bestiaries
Illustrated Compendium of Materia Medica (Vol. 5)
吳其濬 · 1848 · p.74
Hortus Eystettensis
Basilius Besler · 1640 · p.190
Hortus Eystettensis
Basilius Besler · 1640 · p.191
Introductio Generalis in Rem Herbariam
Augustus Quirinus Rivinus · 1690 · p.507
Maria Sibylla Merian — Der rupsen begin, voedzel en wonderbaare verandering (1712)
Maria Sibylla Merian · 1717 · p.321
Rariorum Plantarum Historia (with Fungorum Historia)
Carolus Clusius · 1601 · p.587
The Book of Health: The Art of Distillation
Brunschwig, Hieronymus · 1505 · p.82
The Great Herbary with all the figures of the herbs
1532 · p.143
Notable Commentaries on the History of Plants
Leonhart Fuchs · 1542 · p.136
Notable Commentaries on the History of Plants
Leonhart Fuchs · 1549 · p.134
On the Names of Plants
Hieronymus Bock (Tragus) · 1552 · p.209
A New Herbal, or History of Plants
Rembert Dodoens (trans. Henry Lyte) · 1578 · p.190
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Aquilegia in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 48245.