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Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
(unranked): Eudicots
Order: Ranunculales
Family: Ranunculaceae
Subfamily: Thalictroideae
Genus: Aquilegia L.
Species: 60-70, see text
Aquilegia (pronounced /ˌækwɨˈliːdʒiə/)[1] is a genus of about 60-70 species of columbines, herbaceous perennial plants that are found in meadows, woodlands, and at higher altitudes throughout the Northern Hemisphere. They are known for their distinctive flowers, generally bell-shaped, with each petal modified into an elongated nectar spur. Its fruit takes the form of a follicle.[2] Columbine is derived from the latin word for Dove.
Columbines are closely related to plants in the genera Actaea (baneberries) and Aconitum (wolfbanes/monkhoods), which like Aquilegia produce cardiogenic toxins.[3]
They are used as food plants by some Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) caterpillars. These are mainly of noctuid moths – noted for feeding on many poisonous plants without harm – like Cabbage Moth (Mamestra brassicae), Dot Moth (Melanchra persicariae) and Mouse Moth (Amphipyra tragopoginis). The Engrailed (Ectropis crepuscularia), a geometer moth, also uses columbine as larval foodplant.
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