Columbine 8084 Field guide writers call it “showy.” I like our Colorado Blue Columbine for its sheer extravagance. Most of our natives, plant or otherwise, are a bit more modest than this. But Columbine is bold. Its blooms, typically two-toned and two-tiered, demand attention.

Here are petals and sepals both, five of each thank you very much. The petals are “scooped-shaped”(1) with spurs that narrow gracefully to a tiny knob. They start white or cream and often end pale blue, as if dipped in watercolor.

Not to be outdone, the sepals are petal-like and range the spectrum from dark, almost purple to blue to white. It’s this striking combination of structure and color that make the Colorado Blue Columbine such a stand out. But I’ve seen plenty of monotone blooms, as well. White is common but I've seen a mutation, too, that was all pale blue. Visit my gallery here.

At least one source (2) finds a relationship between altitude, color and length of spur. But easy variation is just another one of the Columbine’s extravagances and this indicates North American species evolved from a common ancestor comparatively recently (3). That ancestor likely originated in Eastern Europe or Central Asia, spreading across Beringia (the famous land bridge) to what is now Alaska some 10,000 to 40,000 years ago. The oldest species now extant in North America, Aquilegia brevistyla, is native to Wyoming and parts north, but doesn’t occur in  Colorado.

Aquilegia coerulea, Colorado Blue Columbine, is native to several western states as far south as Arizona and as far north as Montana (4). Edwin James first recognized it as a distinct species. James was the very young botanist and geologist on Major Long’s expedition to the Rocky Mountains in 1820. The species name, coerulea, is Latin for blue.

Long ago, European varieties must have reminded someone of a cluster of doves (the common name derives from medieval Latin columbina for “dove’s plant.”) Some trace it to the Saxon “culfrewort,” culfre meaning pigeon (5). But when it came time to assign a formal botanical name, someone else saw eagles’ talons in its spurs, hence the derivative of the Latin (Aquilla) for eagle. 

In England, the House of Lancaster and family of Derby include Columbines in their “badges.” (6) It shows up in literature, too. My favorite has to be from Ophelia’s descent into madness: “There’s fennel for you, and columbines. There’s rue for you, and here’s some for me … .” (Hamlet, IV.v.180)

Colorado Blue Columbines grow in Foothills to Alpine zones from June to August. A perennial member of the Buttercup (Ranunculaceae) family, it “prefers moist soil of ravines, rocky slopes, willow thickets, aspen groves, and forest clearings” (7).

My experience is it’s most abundant from mid- to late June to mid-July. I look for it in the aspens and other places with open or dappled shade. I’ve also seen it growing in big clumps in boulder fields near marmot dens or next to old logging stumps close to timberline.

The Columbine’s leaves are mostly basal and compound. “Leaflets [are] deeply 2- to 3-cleft and round lobed” (8). Meadowrue (Thalictrum) leaves are similar but Columbine's flowers are unmistakable.

One more extravagance of the Colorado Blue Columbine are its many yellow stamens and “five or more pistils, which ripen into many-seeded pods called follicles” (9).

Bees and bumblebees are its chief pollinators in Colorado. Hawk Moths and Hummingbirds, with their long tongues, pollinate other species common to lower altitudes. To get at the nectar contained in the spurs, bees and bumblebees chew off the knobs (10).

Some other Buttercup (Ranunculaceae) family members include: Larkspurs (Delphinium), Monkshood (Aconitum) and Pasque Flower (Pulsatilla).

NOTES

1 Guide to Colorado Wildflowers, Volume 2, by G.K. Guennel (1995)

2 http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/beauty/columbines/naturalhistory.shtml

3 Ibid

4 http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=AQCO

5 http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/c/columb89.html

6  ibid

7 Guennel

8 Rocky Mountain Wildflowers: Peterson Field Guides by John J. Craighead, Frank C. Craighead Jr., Ray J. Davis (1991)

9 Guide to Rocky Mountain Plants by Ruth Ashton Nelson, revised by Roger L. Williams (1992)

10 Ibid

All photos copyright Kristin E. Andersen