I love the shape of this flower. (Click for larger view.) I don’t know what it is called, but it is morphologically very similar to a Columbine.
The colour is different and it does not seem to open up as much, but I bet they’re cousins. This is also confirmed by a similarity in leaf shape.
I’ve been spotting them occasionally up at around 10,000 ft and above in these Aspen surrounds, in very small quantities.
Somehow their relative rarity (at least here and now) makes them more alluring to me.
-cvj
Pingback: Combined Columbines at Asymptotia
Seems we’re *all* right!
“Shooting Star Columbine (Aquilegia elegantula)” (From googling shooting star columbine)
http://www.swcoloradowildflowers.com/Pink%20Enlarged%20Photo%20Pages/aquilegia%202.htm
[Update: D’Oh! That’s the same link Trista sent!]
-cvj
Yvette… yes, a friend of mine called them shooting stars! It’s got to be a Columbine relative. Too similar to be an accident.
See also Jonathan’s certainty above.
Trista… Thanks! I’ll dig a little when I get the chance. Say Hi to Jude for me!
Best,
-cvj
It looks very similar to a wildflower I saw in Yellowstone called a “shooting star.” (Gee, I know, wonder why I remembered the name…) Just my $.02.
Hi Clifford:
My mother, Jude, sent me to your blog to help you out. I’m a botanist, but I haven’t worked in Colorado much, even though I’m from there. My mom looked at all of my Colorado plant books (since I don’t have them with me right now), and from what we could determine, it is most likely a hybrid between Aquilegia elegantula (Western Red Columbine) and another Aquilegia species. If you go to the following link: http://www.swcoloradowildflowers.com/Pink%20Enlarged%20Photo%20Pages/aquilegia%202.htm
you’ll see one of these possible hybrids, though this is not necessarily the species you have been seeing. Plants are notorious for hybridizing, which makes it really hard to identify many of them.
There are many different species of columbines. They all have the same morphological shape, but they have a broad range of colours. If you want to become more familiar with different plants in an easy way, try plants.usda.gov. It isn’t complete, especially as far as distributions go, but it is a good place to start. Hope this isn’t too much information.
~Trista
Hi, Paul: Thanks, but no. Not even close, by the pictures.
Jonathan said: “I think the Rocky Mountain columbines tend to look like that.”
Hi Jonathan: No, or at least not this part of the Rockies as far as I can tell…. there are tons and tons of the mare “standard” sort all around. That’s one of the reasons these ones are so interesting – relatively many fewer. Or perhaps I missed their peak or am too early for it…
Cheers,
-cvj
Yes, it most certainly is nothing but a columbine, Aquilegia is the genus you want to look up in Wikipedia. I think the Rocky Mountain columbines tend to look like that.
Maybe one of these?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodecatheon
i believe it is a variety of columbine…i was familiar with the red and yellow variety long before i ever met the purple and white ones…
~sue