Western red columbine facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Western red columbine
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Ranunculales
Family:	Ranunculaceae
Genus:	Aquilegia
Species:	A. elegantula
Binomial name
Aquilegia elegantula Greene
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The Western Red Columbine (Aquilegia elegantula) is a beautiful wild flower. It is also known as the elegant columbine. This plant is a type of columbine flower. It grows in the mountains of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. You can often find it in moist, cool forest areas.

Western Red Columbine: A Mountain Flower

The Western Red Columbine is a special plant. It is a perennial herb. This means it lives for many years. It grows from a rhizome, which is an underground stem. The plant can grow from 10 to 60 centimeters tall. That's about the height of a small dog!

Where Does It Grow?

This lovely flower is native to the southwestern United States. You can find it especially in the Four Corners states. These states are Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also grows in northern Mexico. The Western Red Columbine likes to live in moist places. It often grows in mountain coniferous forests. These are forests with trees like pines and firs.

What Does It Look Like?

The leaves of the Western Red Columbine are green. They grow on long, thin stems called petioles. Each leaf is divided into three smaller parts, called leaflets. These leaflets have rounded edges.

The flowers are very unique. Each flower has five long petals. These petals can be up to 3 centimeters long. They have long, narrow parts called spurs. These spurs have a small knob at the end. The spurs are bright red. The tips of the petals lighten to yellow-green or orange.

Between the petals are oval-shaped sepals. Sepals are like small leaves that protect the flower bud. These sepals are reddish to yellowish. They stand parallel to the petals. The flowers often hang downwards. This means the opening of the flower faces the ground. The spurs point upwards.

How Does It Reproduce?

The Western Red Columbine flowers are pollinated by a special bird. This bird is the broad-tailed hummingbird (Selasphorus platycercus). When the hummingbird sips nectar from the flower, it helps the plant make seeds. The way the flower hangs down and its bright colors are perfect for attracting these hummingbirds.

See also

In Spanish: Colombina roja occidental para niños