Aquilegia vulgaris var. thalictrifolia (Schott & Kotschy) Brühl
Aquilegia einseleana, or Einsele's columbine, is a perennial species of plant in the family Ranunculaceae, native to the eastern Alps.[2]
Description
Aquilegia einseleana grows to 15–40 cm (5.9–15.7 in) in height. It has 1–3 (rarely up to 6) nodding blue-violet flowers of 2.5–4.0 cm (0.98–1.57 in) in diameter, with straight or slightly incurved spurs of around 9 mm (0.35 in).[3][4]
Taxonomy
Aquilegia einseleana is most closely related to Aquilegia bertolonii, Bertoloni's columbine. The two species are estimated to have diverged from each other in the Pliocene around 1.23 million years ago, and form a sister clade to one containing the other European and some North and East Asian species of Aquilegia, from which they diverged approximately 2.5 million years ago.[5]
Etymology
The species was described by the German botanist Friedrich Wilhelm Schultz (1804–1876) in 1848, and named after his friend Dr. August Max Einsele [de] (1803–1870), a Bavarian physician and botanist.[6]
Aquilegia einseleana flowers from June to July[3] and is pollinated by bumblebees.[4]
Conservation
The species has not been assessed for the IUCN Red List.[1] In Switzerland, it is considered vulnerable in certain regions, and is fully protected in the Canton of Ticino.[3]
^ abBastida, Jésus M.; Alcántara, Julio M.; Rey, Pedro J.; Vargas, Pablo; Herrera, Carlos M. (2010). "Extended phylogeny of Aquilegia: the biogeographical and ecological patterns of two simultaneous but contrasting radiations". Plant Systematics and Evolution. 284 (3–4): 171–185. Bibcode:2010PSyEv.284..171B. doi:10.1007/s00606-009-0243-z. hdl:10261/36746.
