208 COLUMBINE. 



crease in size towards the summit, so that the uppermost are 

 small, nearly sessile, and simply ternate, or three-lobed ; they 

 are all of a deep green above, and glaucous beneath. The 

 flowers are terminal, pendent, and supported on long axillary 

 peduncles. The calyx resembles a corolla ; it consists of five 

 coloured, ovate, equal, spreading sepals. The five petals are of 

 a purplish-blue colour, like the sepals, and alternate with them, 

 tubular, dilated upwards, their lower portion extended into a 

 long nectareous spur, which is somewhat incurved and obtuse at 

 the end. The stamens are from thirty to forty in number, with 

 subvdate filaments, the inner abortive, dilated, and clasping the 

 germens ; anthers cordate, erect. The germens are five, supe- 

 rior, oblong, each tapering into an awl-shaped, erect style, about 

 as long as the stamens, and terminated by a simple stigma. The 

 fruit consists of five capsules or follicles, nearly cylindrical, 

 straight, pointed, one-celled^ one-valved, and many-seeded. The 

 seeds are oval, smooth, dark, and shining, and attached to both 

 edges of the suture of each follicle. Plate 13, fig. 3, («) sta- 

 mens and pistils ; (6) a petal with its spur ; (c) the pistils, the 

 germens of which are surrounded with ten scales ; (d) the fruit, 

 consisting of five capsules or follicles united at the base. 



This plant is found in meadows, woods, and coppices in se- 

 veral parts of England, but it can scarcely be reckoned an indi- 

 genous plant, having escaped from gardens, where it is very ge- 

 nerally cultivated. A common near Skegby, in Nottinghamshire, 

 Langwith Woods, in Derbyshire, and Ditchling Common, Sussex, 

 are mentioned as some of its localities. It flowers in June. 



The generic name is derived from aqiiila, an eagle, in refer- 

 ence to the spurs of the petals, which were thought to resemble 

 the claws of that bird. The common English name suggests 

 the idea of the more gentle dove. There is some doubt as to 

 whether the Columbine was familiar to the ancients : Caspar 

 Bauhin considers it the loccriwvrj of Theophrastus, and the KTOitupov 

 of Dioscorides. 



The genus Aquilegia is not very numerous, but most of the 

 species are pretty and vivacious, especially the Alpine Colum- 

 bine {A. Alpina). The plant before us is an old inhabitant of 

 the flower-garden, and there are many varieties with violet, pur- 

 ple, red, flesh-coloured, and white flowers, but no art can 

 change these tints to yellow. 



