W18 



COLUMBINES 



Aquile'gia spp. 



Flowers showy, nodding, sol- 

 itary' 



Outer flower parts (sepals) 5.- 

 alternating with petals, spread- 

 ing or befit-back, up to 1 in. 

 long, about equal in length to 

 the elongated, hooked-tip petal 

 bases (spurs) 



Petals 5, equal, prolonged 

 backward or upward into red 

 spurs, and forward or down- 

 ward into yellow blades up to 

 % in. long 



Stamens numerous, longer 

 than petal blades 



Stems branching, erect, hair- 

 less below, sticky-hairy above 



Upper leaves reduced to sim- 

 ple, stalkless bracts or with 3 

 leaflets 



The species shown is 

 Sitka columbine 

 (Aquilegia formosa ) , 

 one of the commonest, 

 best known, and most 

 widely distributed of 

 western columbines. 



Lower leaves long-stalked, 

 each with the 3 divisions bear- 

 ing's leaflets 



Leaflets wedge-shaped, vari- 

 ously 3- to 5-cleft, hairless to 

 somewhat hairy 



Root crown covered with per- 

 sistent bases of old leafstalks 



Taproot fleshy. spindle- 

 shaped, simple or branched 



Seed pods (follicles) 5, up to 

 1 in. long, each splitting along 

 1 side, and tipped by a persist- 

 ent threadlike stalk (style) 



