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Aquilegia chaplinei
Aquilegia chaplinei, also known as Chaplin's columbine,[note 1] is a species of flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae native to the arid Guadalupe and Sacramento Mountains of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico in the West South Central United States. A perennial plant with an average height of 40 centimetres (16 in), A. chaplinei is characterized as a dwarf version of its close relative Aquilegia chrysantha and is sometimes considered a variant of this species. A. chaplinei's leaves are in a basal arrangement (sprouting from base of the shoot) and give the plant a fern-like appearance when not flowering. Its flowers are pale yellow. It is named for W. R. Chapline, the first person to collect the plant and who collected the holotype from Sitting Bull Falls in New Mexico in 1916.[4]: 74 [5]: 157 The plant has been the subject of conservation protections, including a New Mexican law prohibiting the collection of seeds from wild examples. In 2017, a consortium of state and federal agencies determined the species was "effectively conserved". Description Aquilegia chaplinei is a perennial plant with a height from 20 centimetres (7.9 in) to 50 centimetres (20 in),[6] averaging 40 centimetres (16 in) tall. This is somewhat shorter than the closely related Aquilegia chrysantha, which can reach up to 120 centimetres (47 in) tall.[4]: 74–75 A. chaplinei's type locality at an altitude of 1,650 metres (5,410 ft) suggests that it is better adapted than A. chrysantha to arid environments.[5]: 157 A. chaplinei has a slender stem that is glabrous (smooth) with the exception of the inflorescence.[5]: 156 Possessing leaves in a basal arrangement (sprouting from base of the shoot), A. chaplinei has leaves which extend on slender petioles that are 7 centimetres (2.8 in) to 10 centimetres (3.9 in) long.[5]: 156 The leaves themselves range from bi- to barely triternately compound. A. chaplinei has a fern-like appearance when not flowering.[5]: 156 [4]: 74–75 The leaves are semi-evergreen.[3] It has pale yellow flowers. Its spurs range from 30 millimetres (1.2 in) to 40 millimetres (1.6 in) and can be slender, straight, or slightly spreading.[4]: 74 The short spurs and sepals under 2 centimeters long – between 13 millimetres (0.51 in) and 16 millimetres (0.63 in)[4]: 74 – are the primary distinguishing features that separate A. chaplinei from A. chrysantha.[3] A. chaplinei has yellow sepals.[7] The flowers bloom between April and October.[3] Breeding is performed through its unisexual flowers, meaning that individual flowers exclusively possess either stamen or carpels, making it monoecious.[3] Its seeds are nearly 2 millimetres (0.079 in) long.[8]: 139 Taxonomy A. chaplinei is within the Aquilegia (columbine) genus.[2] The plant, including its holotype,[9] was first collected by W. R. Chapline from Sitting Bull Falls in Eddy County, New Mexico on May 25, 1916. It received the binomial Aquilegia chaplinei in 1918 within Edwin Blake Payson's "The North American Species of Aquilegia", published in Contributions from the United States National Herbarium.[5]: 156–157 [7][8]: 141 The holotype is now in the collection of the National Museum of Natural History.[9] In 1985, Emily J. Lott proposed reclassifying the plant as Aquilegia chrysantha var. chaplinei in the journal Phytologia.[note 2] Lott's proposal came out of her study of plants in the Chihuahuan Desert, stemming from her 1979 unpublished master's thesis on Aquilegia in the Trans-Pecos region of Texas.[10] The name proposed by Lott was not broadly accepted outside of Texas,[4]: 74 where it is used by the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center of the University of Texas at Austin.[3] EtymologyThe 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.[3] 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] DistributionThe species is endemic to the Guadalupe Mountains of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico in the West South Central United States.[2] The Guadalupe Mountains are an extremely arid environment, and A. chaplinei is found where the ground is moist such as along streams, canyons, and at the base of rocks.[6][4]: 74 It is also native to the New Mexican Sacramento Mountains.[3] The New Mexican range extends across the counties of Eddy and Otero.[12] ConservationA. chaplinei is considered a rare plant within its natural range.[3][12] The Flora of North America lists the species as of conservation concern.[7] The University of New Mexico's Rare New Mexico Plants considers A. chaplinei "effectively conserved" and identifies human water management as a threat to the species. The plant's NatureServe conservation status as S2 in both New Mexico and Texas and G2, meaning the state and global populations of the species are "imperiled".[1] The Bureau of Land Management categorizes the plant as a "sensitive" species.[12] As of 1998, A. chaplinei was conserved under the New Mexico Endangered Plant Species Act, legally prohibiting unauthorized seed collection.[13] By 2017, the plant was "effectively conserved" according to the New Mexico Rare Plant Conservation Strategy, a consortium of the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, Bureau of Land Management, and United States Forest Service.[14] CultivationIn 1946, American botanist Philip A. Munz wrote that he was unaware of A. chaplinei being available for sale.[8]: 141 As of 2003[update], both seeds and plants were sometimes available, particularly from native plant nurseries in the region of A. chaplinei's native range.[4]: 74 The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center identified fully shaded or partially shaded locations to prevent stressing the plant and curling in the leaves. A. chaplinei requires both moisture and drainage. In particularly hot and arid settings, the plant becomes susceptible to aphids and spider mites. Aquilegia species hybridize easily, so spacing between different species and varieties is necessary to prevent cross pollination.[3] Notes
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