Aquilegia alpina

Aquilegia alpina
Flower
Botanical illustration
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Ranunculales
Family: Ranunculaceae
Genus: Aquilegia
Species:
A. alpina
Binomial name
Aquilegia alpina
Approximate native distribution of Aquilegia alpina in Western Europe[3]
Synonyms[4]

Aquilegia alpina, often called the alpine columbine or breath of God,[5] is a perennial species of flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae, native to the western and central Alps.[4] Though rare in its Swiss, Austrian, and Italian range, it is commonly found in the French Maritime Alps. A. alpina is appreciated for its light blue to blue-purple flowers.

The species has been in cultivation for several centuries, but plants sold as A. alpina are often hybrids with other Aquilegia species or different columbine species entirely. True A. alpina plants possess straight or slightly curved nectar spurs, distinguishing it from other species and hybrids with hooked spurs.

Description

Aquilegia alpina is a perennial that grows to between 15 cm (5.9 in) and 60 cm (24 in) tall.[4][6]: 62  Leaves are biternate and in a basal arrange (growing from the base of the stem). The lower portions of the stems are pilose and the upper portions are densely pubescent.[6]: 62  The middle leaflets are between 22 mm (0.87 in) and 28 mm (1.1 in) long and between 24 mm (0.94 in) and 34 mm (1.3 in) wide. They are petioluled.[7]: 331 

Plants feature between one and three (occasionally up to 5) flowers per stem.[3] Each flower is nodding.[6]: 62  The flowers are bright light blue to blue-purple, measuring 6–9 cm (2.4–3.5 in) across. The species's nectar spurs at the tip of the flower is straight or only slightly curved,[3] and are the longest of the Eurasian species of Aquilegia at 21.5 mm (0.85 in).[8] The spreading sepals range in shape from lance-ovate to wider and are between 3 cm (1.2 in) and 4.5 cm (1.8 in) long.[9]: 85 

The plant's flowers are considered to possess unusual beauty. Robert Nold described the American botanist Philip A. Munz as having "almost broke down completely" when Munz described A. alpina as "one of the most beautiful of all the Aquilegias". The British botanist Reginald Farrer was similarly appreciative of the flower's appearance.[6]: 62 

Taxonomy

The species was first described as Aquilegia alpina in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus in his Species Plantarum. He described the type locality as Switzerland.[6]: 62 

Names

The word columbine derives from the Latin word columbinus, meaning "dove", a reference to the flowers' appearance of a group of doves. The genus name Aquilegia may come from the Latin word for "eagle", aquila, in reference to the pedals' resemblance to eagle talons.[10] Aquilegia may also derive from aquam legere, which is Latin for "to collect water", or aquilegium, a Latin word for a container of water.[11] The specific name alpina references the plant's native habitat of mountain meadows, as the German word Alp refers to these meadows.[6]: 62  The plant has been commonly referred to both as the "alpine columbine" and the "breath of God".[5]

Distribution and habitat

The species is native to subalpine[3] regions of France, Switzerland, Austria, and Italy,[4] at altitudes from 1,300–1,900 m (4,300–6,200 ft),[12] typically in rocky areas and stony pastures[13] with carbonate bedrock.[14] In the subalpine meadows of southwestern Switzerland, Austria, and northwestern Italy, the plant is rare. However, it is present with greater commonality in the Maritime Alps of France.[6]: 62 

Ecology

Aquilegia alpina flowers from July to September,[3] and is pollinated by bees.[8] Hybrid A. alpina with hooked nectar spurs that were cultivated in the United States have been observed being foraged by the moth species Hemaris thysbe.[15] It is known to be attacked by the gall midge species Macrolabis aquilegiae.[12]

Conservation

As of October 2024, the IUCN Red List listed Aquilegia alpina as Least Concern (LC). This status was last reviewed on 24 June 2010.[1] In Switzerland, it is listed as fully protected in the Bern, Glarus, Grisons, Obwalden, Ticino, and Uri cantons.[3]

Cultivation

Aquilegia alpina has a long history of cultivation and was a common offering by 1946.[9]: 87  Most plants sold as A alpina are instead crosses between multiple Aquilegia species, a phenomenon common across the genus and the result of hundreds of years of cultivation. By 1946, Munz said that supposed "A. alpina" plants were generally hybridizations incorporating Aquilegia vulgaris; this lineage is discernible in the hooked nectar spurs typical of these plants. Other plants labeled A. alpina were instead Aquilegia bertolonii.[9]: 81, 87  Nold noted that Munz's observations remained true in 2003.[6]: 63 

References

  1. ^ a b "Ancolie des Alpes". IUCN Red List. IUCN. 2010. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  2. ^ Sp. Pl.: 522 (1753)
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Aquilegia alpina L." Global Biodiversity Information Facility. GBIF Secretariat. 2023. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d "Aquilegia alpina L." Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Aquilegia alpina alpine columbine". The Royal Horticultural Society. Retrieved 1 January 2021. Other common names; breath of God
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Nold, Robert (2003). Columbines: Aquilegia, Paraquilegia, and Semiaquilegia. Portland, OR: Timber Press. ISBN 0881925888.
  7. ^ Skalińska, Maria. "Studies in Aquilegia". Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London. Linnean Society of London.
  8. ^ a b Whittall, Justen B.; Hodges, Scott A. (2007). "Pollinator shifts drive increasingly long nectar spurs in columbine flowers". Nature. 447 (7145): 706–709. Bibcode:2007Natur.447..706W. doi:10.1038/nature05857. PMID 17554306.
  9. ^ a b c Munz, Philip A. (March 25, 1946). Aquilegia: The Cultivated and Wild Columbines. Gentes Herbarum. Vol. VII. Ithaca, NY: The Bailey Hortorium of the New York State College of Agriculture at Cornell University – via Archive.org.
  10. ^ "Aquilegia chrysantha var. chaplinei". wildflower.org. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Archived from the original on June 13, 2024. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
  11. ^ "Aquilegia confusa Rota". Portale alla flora del Monte Grappa (in Italian). University of Trieste. Archived from the original on December 10, 2024. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
  12. ^ a b Skuhravá, Marcela; Skuhravý, Václav (2010). "Gall midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) of South Tyrol (Italy) - summary of results and zoogeographical analysis". Gredleriana. 10: 275–324.
  13. ^ Signorini, Maria Adele; Nardi, Enio (1999). "Taxonomic notes on Isopyrum thalictroides L. var. insignis Gibelli et Pirotta (Ranunculaceae)" (PDF). Flora Mediterranea. 9: 61–64.
  14. ^ Caironi, Valeria; Crosa Lenz, Beatrice; Bollati, Iren Maria (2020). "A multidisciplinary approach for physical landscape analysis: Scientific value and risk of degradation of outstanding landforms in the glacial plateau of the Loana Valley (Central-Western Italian Alps)". Italian Journal of Geosciences. 139 (2): 233–251. doi:10.3301/IJG.2020.01. hdl:2434/735692. S2CID 216271412.
  15. ^ Macior, Lazarus Walter (March 1966). "Foraging Behavior of Bombus (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Relation to Aquilegia Pollination". American Journal of Botany. 53 (3): 304. doi:10.2306/2439803. JSTOR 2439803.