Aquilegia (commonly known as granny's bonnet or columbine) is a genus of about 60-70 species[1] of perennial plants that are found in meadows, woodlands, and at higher altitudes throughout the Northern Hemisphere, known for the spurred petals [2] of their flowers.
Aquilegia Media
Aquilegia vulgaris fruit and seeds
Leaf miners can leave trails where they have consumed the interior tissue of Aquilegia leaves
Some North American columbines adapted to pollination by hawkmoths (pictured) and hummingbirds.
Patterns of floral morphology in the subfamily Thalictroideae
Aquilegia × miniana (pictured) is a naturally occurring hybrid of A. flavescens and A. formosa.
Some of the earliest cultivation of columbines may have occurred at Christian cathedrals.
A. vulgaris 'Nora Barlow' is a double-flowered cultivar known for its coloring.
Aquilegia vulgaris served as a symbol of bodily pleasures within Hieronymus Bosch's The Garden of Earthly Delights (detail pictured).
References
- ↑ Sunset Western Garden Book, 1995:606–607
- ↑ Puzey, J.R., Gerbode, S.J., Hodges, S.A., Kramer, E.M., Mahadevan, L. (2011) Evolution of Aquilegia spur length diversity through changes in cell anisotropy. Proceedings of the Royal Society B.