''Aquilegia pubescens'' is a high-altitude species of
columbine known by the common names Sierra columbine, alpine columbine and Coville's columbine. Its flowers are large and usually a creamy white.
Distribution and habitat
This wildflower is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to California, where it is a resident of the
High Sierra. It is found in
alpine
Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to:
Places Europe
* Alps, a European mountain range
** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range
Australia
* Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village
* Alpine National Pa ...
and
subalpine
Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...
climates, often on open, rocky slopes, between 8,000 and 12,000 ft.
Description
This leafy columbine rarely reaches half a meter-1.5 feet in height. The showy flowers are erect or spreading, rather than drooping. The characteristic spurs may be up to 5 centimeters long and the flowers up to 5 cm wide. The
sepal
A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...
s (outer ring) and the petals (inner, with spurs) are generally cream or white, less often pink or yellow. The round, fused mouth protrudes, enclosing a cluster of long yellow stamens.
[
]
Hybrids
''Aquilegia pubescens'' can hybridize with the lower-elevation Aquilegia formosa
''Aquilegia formosa'', the crimson columbine, western columbine, or (ambiguously) "red columbine", is a common wildflower native to western North America, from Alaska to Baja California, and eastward to Montana and Wyoming.
Description
''Aquileg ...
(crimson columbine) where their ranges overlap. This produces flowers with intermediate color, spur length, and orientation, as shown in the transition-series image, providing a change also in pollinator species: hawkmoths for ''A. pubescens'' and hummingbirds for ''A. formosa''.
Gallery
Image:White columbine closeup front.jpg, Aquilegia pubescens flower, full-face
Image:Aquilegia pubescens closeup.jpg, Aquilegia pubescens bud & flowers
Image:Aquilegiapubescens.jpg, An unusual Aquilegia pubescens at Red Butte Gardens
References
External links
Jepson Manual Treatment - ''Aquilegia pubescens''''Aquilegia pubescens'' - Photo gallery
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4782933
pubescens
Endemic flora of California
Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States)
Alpine flora