Flora of North America species comparison

The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Aquilegia formosa

columbine, crimson columbine, narcissus anemone, northern anemone, red columbine, Sitka columbine, western columbine
Stems

(15-)30-100 cm.
Basal leaves

2x-ternately compound, 10-40 cm, much shorter than stems;

leaflets green adaxially, to 14-68 mm, not viscid (petioles and petiolules viscid in var. hypolasia);

primary petiolules 16-95 mm (leaflets not crowded), glabrous or pilose.
Flowers

nodding to pendent;

sepals perpendicular to floral axis, red, elliptic to lanceolate, 10-26 × 4-9 mm, apex broadly acute to acuminate;

petals: spurs red, straight, ± parallel, 13-21 mm, stout, abruptly narrowed near middle, blades yellow, oblong, rounded, or obsolete, 0-6 × 4-6 mm;

stamens 12-17 mm.
Follicles

15-25(-29) mm;

beak 9-12 mm.

Aquilegia formosa
Distribution
from FNA
AK; CA; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; YT; Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 3 (3 in the flora).

The type specimen of Aquilegia formosa var. fosteri S. L. Welsh, described from southwestern Utah, has viscid leaves with short petiolules and crowded leaflets, erect, dark red flowers with slender, evenly tapering spurs, and long (19 mm) stamens. Aside from the red sepals and spurs, it has little in common with A. formosa and its relatives. The crowded leaflets, erect flowers, and evenly tapering spurs are reminiscent of A. scopulorum, and it could be a hybrid involving that species, but it is not clear what the other parent might be. The taxonomy of Aquilegia in southwestern Utah is complex, with six species known and several hybrid combinations apparently formed; satisfactory disposition of this name will require further work in the area.

Native Americans used Aquilegia formosa for various purposes: as a charm to gain the affections of men or to retain wealth and possessions; medicinally, seeds were chewed to alleviate stomach aches, and leaves were chewed or used in infusions to treat coughs, colds, and sore throats (D. E. Moerman 1986, varieties not indicated).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Blades of petals 3–6 mm; sepals 14–26 mm, 0.9–1.3 times as long as spurs.
var. formosa
1. Blades of petals 0–3 mm; sepals 10–20 mm, 0.7–1.1 times as long as spurs.
→ 2
2. Stems and petioles glabrous or sparingly pilose, not at all viscid.
var. truncata
2. Stems and petioles densely pubescent, somewhat viscid.
var. hypolasia
Source FNA vol. 3.
Parent taxa Ranunculaceae > Aquilegia
Sibling taxa
A. barnebyi, A. brevistyla, A. canadensis, A. chaplinei, A. chrysantha, A. coerulea, A. desertorum, A. elegantula, A. eximia, A. flavescens, A. hinckleyana, A. jonesii, A. laramiensis, A. longissima, A. micrantha, A. pubescens, A. saximontana, A. scopulorum, A. shockleyi, A. vulgaris
Subordinate taxa
A. formosa var. formosa, A. formosa var. hypolasia, A. formosa var. truncata
Name authority Fischer ex de Candolle: Prodr. 1: 50. (1824)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Fabaceae, Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

Choose a data source: Flora of North America, OregonFlora, UW Burke Herbarium

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers