Colorado Blue Columbine (Aquilegia coerulea)
Description
Aquilegia coerulea is a species of Aquilegia flower 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 properly 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.Aquilegia coerulea is the state flower of Colorado.
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum: Magnoliophyta
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Class: Magnoliopsida
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Order: Ranunculales
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Family: Ranunculaceae
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Genus: Aquilegia
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