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Aquilegia elegantula
Aquilegia elegantula, the western red columbine, is a perennial species of flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae, native to the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico.[2] DescriptionAquilegia elegantula is a rhizomatous perennial herb growing 10–60 cm (3.9–23.6 in) tall. The green leaf blades are borne on long, slender petioles and divided into three leaflets which each have rounded lobes along the front edges. The flower has five long petals up to 3 cm (1.2 in) in length including their elongated, knob-tipped spurs. The petals are bright red in the spurs and lighten to yellow-green or orange at the tips. Between the petals are the oval-shaped sepals, which are reddish to yellowish in color and are held parallel to the petals. Flowers often droop such that the mouth is toward the ground and the spurs point up.[3] TaxonomyThe species is probably most closely related to Aquilegia coerulea and is part of a clade containing all the North American species of columbines that likely split from their closest relatives in East Asia in the mid-Pliocene, approximately 3.84 million years ago.[4] EtymologyThe specific epithet elegantula means "rather elegant" in Latin.[citation needed] Distribution and habitatThe species is native to the Four Corners states of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona,[2] and Coahuila and Nuevo León in northern Mexico.[5] It grows in moist Douglas fir and spruce–fir forests and on river banks at altitudes of 1,700–2,800 m (5,600–9,200 ft).[1] EcologyThe flowers are pollinated by the broad-tailed hummingbird Selasphorus platycercus.[3] ConservationAs of November 2024[update], NatureServe listed Aquilegia elegantula as Secure (G5). This status was last reviewed on 24 April 1991. NatureServe notes that the species is widespread and common across much of its range.[1] References
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