Rocky Mountain Columbine Plant

Facts of Rocky Mountain Columbine Flower (Plant), "Scientific name for Rocky Mountain Columbine Flower (Plant) is Aquilegia coerulea James".
The Rocky Mountain Columbine Flower (Plant) belongs in the Category of Perennials.

Rocky Mountain Columbine Flower (Plant), also referred to by various names – dwarf blue columbine, and alpine dwarf columbine or simply as alpine columbine, is a plant that grows perennially. A perennial plant grows every season of the year. It hails from the buttercup family, also known as a Ranunculacea, a type of plant type flower in almost 60 different genera scattered globally.

The genus identifier, Aquilegia, borrows its origin from the Latin word Aquila. Aquila in Latin means eagle. In this setting, Aquila basically designates that the Aquilegia saximontana has protruding petals which can be directly assimilated with eagle talons.

Rocky Mountain Columbine Flower (Plant), it falls under plantae kingdom, tracheobionyta subkingdom, spermatophyta superdividision, magnollophyta division, magnoliospida class, magnoliidae subclass, ranunculales order, ranunculanea family, aquilegia genus and aquilegia saximontana species, Aquilegia saximontana is a dicot with a USDA symbol of AQSA.

Usually, Rocky Mountain Columbine Flower (Plant) blooms in the months of July and August in white and lavender colors bearing large flowers. A fully-matured Rocky Mountain Columbine Flower (Plant) endures a total height of between 5cm- 25cm with short stems.

This plant is dominant in the alpine and sub-alpine lands with an altitude of 3,300m-4,000m situated in the Rocky Mountains. It is an indigenous plant that is native to the Rocky Mountains which are in Colorado, USA.

There has been always a tendency of confusing Aquilegia saximontana with Aquilegia caerulea due to their nomenclature similarity. Aquilegia caerulea can be contrasted with Aquilegia saximontana by simply comparing the extent of the spike-shaped exteriors of the flower.

There has been looming disarray as to which of the two flowers belong to the recognized flower of the state of Colorado, being that both Aquilegia saximontana and Aquilegia caerulea are all columbine species. From a historical perspective, Aquilegia saximontana may seem to have been the authentic flower of the state of Colorado. The original preserved documents indicated that the state flower was lavender and white in color, which might have been used to refer to aquilegia saximontana. However, Aquilegia caerulea is the official flower of the state of Colorado.

Appearance

In appearance, Rocky Mountain Columbine Flower (Plant) has glabrous foliage with leaves being green on the top and glaucous underneath. The flowers are of the nodding type with blue sepals of approximate length of 10mm-12mm. The leaf blades are cream in color, 7 to 8mm long.

On a much better look, a keen observer will notice that Rocky Mountain Columbine Flower (Plant) has hooked kind of spurs, a much rare phenomenon among the columbine species especially those found in North America. The spurs are blue and approximately 3 to 9 mm long. Its stamens do not go beyond the blades.

The Rocky Mountain Columbine Flower (Plant) doesn’t tolerate too much wetness that is experienced during the winter season, though it can bear a little shade at times. The Rocky Mountain Columbine Flower (Plant) grows where there is sufficient moisture.

Collecting seed

The seed heads are allowed to dry on plants after which seeds are removed from their pods for successful storage. Its seeds are dangerously poisonous and should not be ingested.