Aquilegia vulgaris

Stems 30-72 cm. Basal leaves 2×-ternately compound, 10-30 cm, much shorter than stems; leaflets green adaxially, to 15-47 mm, not viscid; primary petiolules 22-60 mm (leaflets not crowded), pilose or rarely glabrous. Flowers nodding; sepals divergent from or perpendicular to floral axis, mostly blue or purple, lance-ovate, (10-)15-25 × 8-12 mm, apex broadly acute or obtuse; petals: spurs mostly blue or purple, hooked, 14-22 mm, stout, evenly tapered from base, blades mostly blue or purple, oblong, 10-13 × 6-10 mm; stamens 9-13 mm. Follicles 15-25 mm; beak 7-15 mm. 2 n = 14 (Europe).

Flowering spring-summer (May-Jul). Disturbed habitats; 0-1500 m; introduced; B.C., Man., N.B., Nfld., N.S., Ont., P.E.I., Que.; Conn., Ill., Iowa, Maine, Mass., Mich., Minn., N.H., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Pa., R.I., Vt., Wash., W.Va.; native to Europe.

Aquilegia vulgaris is cultivated as an ornamental and occasionally escapes into disturbed habitats. Most plants have blue or purple flowers (the wild type), but horticultural races with white or reddish flowers sometimes become established. Many cultivated columbines are derived from hybrids between A . vulgaris and related species. Some of our escaped plants are probably descended from such hybrids.

Foliage as in no. 1 [Aquilegia canadensis L.]; fls nodding, blue, varying to purple, white, or pink, (2.5-)3-4(-5) cm long and wide, stamens not longer than the sep; spurs short and thick, strongly incurved; follicle-beak 5-10 mm; 2n=14. Native of Eurasia, escaped from cult. and locally established esp. in the cooler parts of our range. May-July.

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

©The New York Botanical Garden. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

From Flora of Indiana (1940) by Charles C. Deam

Indiana Coefficient of Conservatism: C = null, non-native

Wetland Indicator Status: N/A

Diagnostic Traits: Similar to A. canadensis but with flowers blue, purple, pink, or white and spurs strongly hooked.