Download Plant Identification Guide

Plant Identification Guide
Red columbine Aquilegia canadensis
Also Known As: Eastern columbine
Plant Family: Buttercup (Ranunculaceae)
Did you know? Eastern red columbine is pollinated by hummingbirds (notice
the red, tubular flowers). In northern latitudes, bees are important pollinators
also. The seeds have been used for a variety of medicinal purposes, from
treating kidney ailments to relieving rashes caused by poison ivy.
Identification Hints
Plant Description
follicle (a seed pod that splits open along
Columbines have flowers that hang
Eastern red columbine is a perennial
downwards with upward pointing
woodland forb which grows to about
which opens to release seeds. Five of the
claw-like spurs. They typically have
12 to 30 in (30 to 76 cm) in height.
leaves divided in threes which each
Multiple stems spread from the base,
have three lobes.
and the plant is erect and branching.
Habitat: Eastern red columbine is found
Red columbine tolerates somewhat dry
in well-lit areas on the edges of woodland
conditions; the crown will rot if over-
areas, on open hillsides and bluffs, and
watered.
even peat bogs. The plant is native to
Without flowers, they can be
confused with the meadow rues
(Thalictrum spp.). Meadow rues have
leaves attached to stalks on the
Leaves: Leaves are deep green,
stem, columbines have basal leaves.
compound, divided into rounded
leaflets, which give them the distinctive
There are native red columbines
across the US. Many of the garden
columbines are hybrids from the
buttercup appearance. Leaves are
one side) just over 1 in (3 cm) in length,
pointed follicles are produced from each
flower.
eastern and central North America, found
as far north as Canada down to northern
Florida, and west to Oklahoma and
eastern Texas.
smooth on top, and fuzzy underneath.
European species (A. vulgaris).
Flowers: Flowers are showy and
They have very short hooked spurs
distinct. A single, nodding flower stems
(less than a ¼ in). The native red
from leaf axils. Each flower has five
columbine can be distinguished from
red petals, which extend backward into
ornamentals by their long straight
long spurs with a slightly bulbous tip
spurs, sepals that are shorter
called a nectary where nectar is stored.
than the spurs and are not bent
The reproductive parts of the flower
backwards and leaves divided twice
hang downward, and are bright yellow.
into threes.
Flowers bloom from April to July.
Fruits: The seed head is a beaked
Information source: SDA Plants Database (plants.
usda.gov); Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower center
(http://www.wildflower.org/plants); Missouri
Plants; Photograph by Clarence A. Rechenthin @
USDANRCS PLANTS Database
budburst.org
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