AQUILEGIA 



(From the Latin aquiUgus, water-drawer, not 



commonly said from aquila, eagle) 



Ranunculacea 



127. Aquilegia caerulea {A. leptoceras; A. macrdntha) 

 English Names: Rocky Mountain columbine, Long-spurred columbine. 



ROCKY MOUNTAINS, MONTANA TO N. MEXICO MID-MAY TO MID-JUNE 



IARGE sky-blue flowers varying to whitish, two and one half to three 

 -^ inches across, with long, slender, slightly out-curving spurs, tipped 

 at the end with greenish knobs ; carried on branching stems one to one and a 

 half feet high. The leaves 

 are large and handsome, 

 divided into three-lobed 

 leaflets, but do not last 

 after the blooming season. 

 Excellent massed in 

 clumps in the herbaceous 

 border or rock garden, 

 and good for cut- 

 ting. 



Theoretically a hardy 

 perennial, it rarely 

 blooms more than two 

 or three seasons and 

 should be treated as a bi- 

 ennial. Of easiest culture, 

 preferring a light sandy 

 soil, moist but well- 

 drained, and a sunny 

 situation. 



May be propagated 

 by seed sown in spring, 

 but is apt not to come 

 true to seed if there are 

 other varieties planted 

 near, as all Columbines 

 hybridize very readily. 



Var. alba. Similar but entirely white. 



Var. flore-pleno. Large and showy flowers, more or less doubled, 

 not so graceful as the type. 



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