Official State Flowers of the United States
Aquilegia coerulea - Rocky Mountain columbine
Aquilegia coerulea – Rocky Mountain columbine
State of Colorado Flower
Aquilegia coerulea is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native to the Rocky Mountains from Montana south to New Mexico and west to Idaho and Arizona. Its common name is Colorado blue columbine; sometimes it is called “Rocky Mountain columbine,” but this also refers to Aquilegia saximontana.
It is a herbaceous perennial plant often found at elevations of 2,100 to 3,700 m (6,900 to 12,100 ft). This beautiful plant can grow to 20–60 cm (8–24 in) tall, with flowers sprouting in inflorescences produced from the shoot apical meristem. The flowers are very variable in color, from pale blue (as in the species name coerulea) to white, pale yellow and pinkish; very commonly the flowers are bicolored, with the sepals a different shade to the petals. They consist of five petals, five sepals and an ovary surrounded by 50 to 130 stamens. Five long spurs hang below the calyx and contain nectar at their tips, accessible only to hawkmoths. In addition to hawkmoths, pollinators for this flower include bumble-bees, solitary bees and syphrid flies.
The white and lavender Rocky Mountain Columbine was designated the official state flower of Colorado in 1899 after winning the vote of Colorado’s school children.
Columbines bloom in pastel shades of blue, violet, red, yellow and white. There are 70 species of columbines in the world and about 1/3 are native to North America. Colorado specifies the white and lavender Rocky Mt. Columbine which has blue-violet petals and spurs, a white cup and yellow center. Blue is a symbol of the sky, white represents snow, and yellow symbolizes Colorado’s gold mining history.
A law was enacted in 1925 to protect this rare and delicate flower. The Colorado General Assembly wisely made it illegal to uproot the flower on public lands and the gathering of blossoms and buds is limited. It may not be picked at all on private land without the consent of the landowner.
Free
