Aquilegia olympica

Aquilegia olympica grows to 30–60 cm (12–24 in) tall. The basal leaves are biternate in form, smooth above and covered with fine or woolly hairs underneath. The leaflets have rounded teeth along their edges. The flowers have blue-violet sepals measuring 18–35 mm (0.71–1.38 in), and white petals ending in a short, somewhat hooked nectar spur.

Aquilegia olympica is native to northern Turkey, northern Iran, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and the North Caucasus. Unlike the other species in the Aquilegia olympica aggregate, which prefer rocky habitats, this species grows in damp meadows and spruce forests.

Aquilegia olympica flowers in late spring and early summer. The larvae of the columbine sawfly Pristiphora rufipes have been recorded feeding on the plant.

A decoction of Aquilegia olympica was traditionally used in eastern Turkey as a diuretic.

The early French printer Philippe Pigouchet used the flowers of Aquilegia olympica as a common motif in border illustrations in his Book of Hours of 1500.