Aquilegia

Also known as columbine, Granny's Bonnet, columbines

Aquilegia, commonly known as columbines, is a genus of perennial flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae (buttercups). The genus includes between 70 and 400 taxa (described species and subspecies) with natural ranges across the Northern Hemisphere. Natural and introduced populations of Aquilegia exist on all continents but Antarctica. Known for their high physical variability and ease of hybridization, columbines are popular garden plants and have been used to create many cultivated varieties.

OverviewAI-generated

Aquilegia, commonly known as columbine, is a genus of plants within the family Ranunculaceae. It belongs to the order Ranunculales, class Magnoliopsida, and phylum Tracheophyta in the kingdom Plantae. The genus comprises approximately 60 to 70 species of perennial plants. The entire plant is toxic and can cause dermatitis, gastroenteritis, and cardiac paralysis.

The native range of Aquilegia includes Afghanistan, Alabama, Alaska, Albania, Alberta, Algeria, Altay, Amur, Arizona, Arkansas, Austria, and the Baltic States. Records from iDigBio indicate collections in the United States and Mexico, with specimens held by institutions such as the University of Alberta Museums and INECOL. The genus has been described in sources including the Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition and the New International Encyclopedia.

Synthesized by Vinony from 34 facts across 8 sources: Wikidata, GBIF, PubMed, Gbif Occ, Encyclopedia of Life, Plants of the World, iDigBio, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Species

Aquilegia

GENUS

KingdomPlantae
PhylumTracheophyta
ClassMagnoliopsida
OrderRanunculales
FamilyRanunculaceae

Native toAfghanistan, Alabama, Alaska, Albania, Alberta, Algeria, Altay, Amur, Arizona, Arkansas, Austria, Baltic States

Observations recorded393,666

耧斗菜属是毛茛科的其中一個屬，大約包含有60到70種多年生植物。全草有毒，可引起皮膚炎（水疱）、胃腸炎、心臟麻痺等。

via GBIF · Kew POWO

Museum specimens

Specimen records: 1,251
With media: 905
Family: Ranunculaceae
Collections: UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA MUSEUMS, INECOL, FCF-UANL, RMBL, SD, ASC
Recorded in: United States, Mexico

iDigBio →

Research

253 papers

Aquilegia as a model system for the evolution and ecology of petals.ReviewPhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2010Kramer EM, Hodges SADOI: 10.1098/rstb.2009.0230
Characterizing complete mitochondrial genome of Aquilegia amurensis and its evolutionary implications.BMC plant biology · 2024Xu L, Wang J, Zhang T et al.DOI: 10.1186/s12870-024-04844-9
Columbines.ReviewCurrent biology : CB · 2007Hodges SA, Kramer EMDOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2007.09.034
My favourite flowering image: an Aquilegia flower.Journal of experimental botany · 2020Kramer EMDOI: 10.1093/jxb/erz035
Genomics of hybrid parallel origin in Aquilegia ecalcarata.BMC ecology and evolution · 2024Geng FD, Liu MQ, Zhang XD et al.DOI: 10.1186/s12862-024-02266-7
The Aquilegia genome reveals a hybrid origin of core eudicots.Genome biology · 2019Aköz G, Nordborg MDOI: 10.1186/s13059-019-1888-8
Comparative chloroplast genomes and phylogenetic analysis of Aquilegia.Applications in plant sciences · 2021Zhang W, Wang H, Dong J et al.DOI: 10.1002/aps3.11412
Loss of staminodes in Aquilegia jonesii reveals a fading stamen-staminode boundary.EvoDevo · 2024Johns JW, Min Y, Ballerini ES et al.DOI: 10.1186/s13227-024-00225-3

via PubMed

~43 min read

Encyclopedic overview

19 sections

Contents

Etymology
Description
Phytochemistry
Ecology
Pollination
Taxonomy
Evolution
Current species
Natural hybridization
Distribution
Conservation
Cultivation
Cultivars and cultivated hybrids
Human uses
Medicinal and herbal
Other uses
In culture
References
External links

Aquilegia plants typically possess stiff stems and leaves that divide into multiple leaflets. Columbines often have colorful flowers with five sepals and five petals. The petals generally feature nectar spurs which differ in lengths between species. In North America, morphological variations in spurs evolved to suit different pollinators. Some species and varieties of columbines are naturally spurless. In cultivation, varieties bearing significantly altered physical traits such as double flowering are prevalent.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Aquilegia” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.