''Aquilegia vulgaris'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of columbine

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

to Europe with common names that include: European columbine, common columbine, granny's nightcap, and granny's bonnet. It is a flowering herbaceous

perennial plant A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

growing to 1.2 m tall, with branched, thinly hairy stems. The leaves are biternate; each leaf has three groups of three leaflets. The flowers, in various shades of purple, blue, pink and white, are pendent or horizontal with strongly hooked spurs, and appear in early summer. The Latin specific epithet ''vulgaris'' means "common".

Native Range

The species is native to Albania, Austria, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Central European Rus, Corse, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Northwest European Region, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sicilia, Spain, Switzerland, Yugoslavia. It has been introduced to many other areas including parts of North and South America, and other parts of Europe and north eastern Asia.

Cultivation

This species and various hybrids derived from it are popular garden flowers, available in a variety of single colours and bi-colours, in single and double forms. Though perennial, cultivars may be short-lived and thus best treated as biennials. Spent flower-heads should be removed to prevent the plant going to seed. Cultivars include the Barlow series (‘Nora Barlow’, 'Black Barlow', 'Rose Barlow', 'Christa Barlow'), 'Pretty Bonnets'. Seeds may be sold as mixtures. The white flowering cultivar 'Nivea' has gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nor ...

's Award of Garden Merit. Aquilegia nora barlow

Pests and diseases

Aphids Aphids are small sap-sucking insects and members of the superfamily Aphidoidea. Common names include greenfly and blackfly, although individuals within a species can vary widely in color. The group includes the fluffy white woolly aphids. A t ...

and

sawfly Sawflies are the insects of the suborder Symphyta within the order Hymenoptera, alongside ants, bees, and wasps. The common name comes from the saw-like appearance of the ovipositor, which the females use to cut into the plants where they lay ...

larvae may attack the plant.

Folklore

In traditional herbalism columbine was considered sacred to

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...

; carrying a posy of it was said to arouse the affections of a loved one.

Nicholas Culpeper Nicholas Culpeper (18 October 1616 – 10 January 1654) was an English botanist, herbalist, physician and astrologer.Patrick Curry: "Culpeper, Nicholas (1616–1654)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (Oxford, UK: OUP, 2004) His bo ...

recommended the seeds taken in wine to speed the process of childbirth. In modern herbal medicine it is used as an

astringent An astringent (sometimes called adstringent) is a chemical that shrinks or constricts body tissues. The word derives from the Latin ''adstringere'', which means "to bind fast". Calamine lotion, witch hazel, and yerba mansa, a Californian pla ...

and

diuretic A diuretic () is any substance that promotes diuresis, the increased production of urine. This includes forced diuresis. A diuretic tablet is sometimes colloquially called a water tablet. There are several categories of diuretics. All diuretics i ...

Toxicity

The plant is a member of the poisonous

Ranunculus ''Ranunculus'' is a large genus of about almost 1700 to more than 1800 species of flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae. Members of the genus are known as buttercups, spearworts and water crowfoots. The genus is distributed in Europe ...

family and all parts of the plant, including the seeds, are poisonous if ingested. It is possible that inhaling the crushed seeds dust or otherwise absorbing oils from them may cause poisoning or at minimum exhibit symptoms of poisoning. The acute toxicity test in mice showed that ethanol extract and the main flavonoid compound isocytisoside from the leaves and stems of ''Aquilegia vulgaris'' can be classified as nontoxic since a dose of 3000 mg/kg did not cause mortality in mice.Adamska T. Mlynarczyk W. Jodynis-Liebert J. Bylka W. Matlawska I "Hepatoprotective effect of the extract and isocytisoside from Aquilegia vulgaris" ''Phytotherapy Research'' 2003 Jun;17(6):691-6.

Gallery

Image:Aquilegia vulgaris 100503a.jpg, Plants growing in natural habitat Image:Aquilegia_vulgaris_100503c.jpg, Close-up of flowers File:Аквилегия обыкновенная.jpg, Style and stamen under the microscope

References

vulgaris Flora of Europe Medicinal plants of Europe Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{medicinal-plant-stub