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Aquilegia formosa

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Aquilegia formosa
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Ranunculales
Family: Ranunculaceae
Genus: Aquilegia
Species:
A. formosa
Binomial name
Aquilegia formosa

Aquilegia formosa, the crimson columbine, western columbine, or (ambiguously) "red columbine", is a common wildflower native to western North America, from Alaska to Baja California, and eastward to Montana and Wyoming.

Description

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Aquilegia formosa is a perennial herb[1] that grows to 20–80 cm in height, averaging around 60 cm. Flowers, which can be seen from April to August (with some variation between regions), are about 5 cm long and red and yellow in color. The sepals and petal spurs are typically a reddish-orange color, attributed to the anthocyanin pigments pelargonidin and cyanidin,[2] and carotenoids. Petal blades are yellow, pigmented by carotenoids. The primary pollinators are hummingbirds, although bees, butterflies, and flies will also visit flowers.[3] Despite several floral adaptations to hummingbird pollination, at ~9,000-10,000 feet in elevation in the eastern drainages of the central Sierra Nevada mountains of California, A. formosa forms hybrid zones with Aquilegia pubescens, which is primarily pollinated by hawk moths.

The flowers are edible, with a sweet taste—though the seeds can be fatal if eaten, and most parts of the plant contain cyanogenic glycosides.[4]

Distribution

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Within its range, the crimson columbine can be found in most kinds of habitat (chaparral, oak woodland, mixed-evergreen or coniferous forest). It is not found on desert floors, nor at altitudes above 3300 metres, and it is absent from the Central Valley of California. It prefers moist locations such as stream banks.

Crimson columbine (Aquilegia formosa truncata) taken at Castle Lake (California)

Native American use

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Some Plateau Indian tribes used the Aquilegia formosa to concoct a perfume.[5] It is also used medicinally by several Native American tribes.[6]

Etymology

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Aquilegia is derived from the Latin word 'aquila', meaning 'eagle', or possibly from the Medieval German words 'Acheleia' or 'Akelei'; this name is in reference to its talon-like nectaries. Formosa means 'handsome', 'beautiful', or 'well-formed'.[7]

References

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  1. ^ "Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin". www.wildflower.org. Retrieved 2021-12-06.
  2. ^ Taylor, Ronald J (1984). "Floral Anthocyanins of Aquilegia and Their Relationship to Distribution and Pollination Biology of the Species". The Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Society. 111 (4): 462–468. doi:10.2307/2995896. JSTOR 2995896. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  3. ^ Fulton, Michelle; Hodges, Scott A. (August 1999). "Floral isolation between Aquilegia formosa and Aquilegia pubescens". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 266 (1435): 2247–2252. doi:10.1098/rspb.1999.0915. PMC 1690454.
  4. ^ Vizgirdas, Ray S.; Edna M. Rey-Vizgirdas (2006). Wild Plants of the Sierra Nevada. University of Nevada Press. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-87417-535-6.
  5. ^ Hunn, Eugene S. (1990). Nch'i-Wana, "The Big River": Mid-Columbia Indians and Their Land. University of Washington Press. p. 351. ISBN 0-295-97119-3.
  6. ^ "Aquilegia formosa".
  7. ^ Gledhill, David (2008). "The Names of Plants". Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521866453 (hardback), ISBN 9780521685535 (paperback). pp 53, 169
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