LEMON COLUMBINE 



Aquilegia flavescens Watson 



All our native columbines are graceful plants with beautiful flow- 

 ers, and the lemon columbine is one of the most attractive species. 

 When, in midsummer, at the height of its blooming season, it appears 

 everywhere over the mountain slopes, it affords fine displays of col- 

 or. At this season the pale lemon-colored flowers are contrasted with 

 large purple asters and other brilliantly tinted blossoms. The flower 

 stems rise eighteen inches to three feet above the fernlike basal leaves. 

 This species of columbine is frequently found at high altitudes, and 

 here the dwarfed flower stems are often only six inches tall. In cliff 

 crevices, with gray rock for a background, it makes entrancing pic- 

 tures for those whose eyes observe nature's wonderful harmonies. 



Lemon columbine ranges from Wyoming to Oregon and north 

 to Alberta and British Columbia. 



The specimen sketched was obtained in the Ptarmigan Valley ten 

 miles from Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada, at an altitude of 6,000 feet. 



PLATE 2.0I 



