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Ranunculaceae
Long-Spur Columbine
Aquilegia longissima
Delicate strength and reaching for something beyond.
- Family
- Ranunculaceae
- Genus
- Aquilegia
- Native to
- Texas, Mexico
- Bloom season
- Spring, Summer
- Type
- herbaceous perennial
- Height
- 60–90 cm
- Sunlight
- part shade
- Soil
- moist, well-drained, limestone-derived
- Water
- medium
- Hardiness
- 5–9
- Lifespan
- short-lived perennial; 3–4 years
Did you know
- Its nectar spurs can reach 15 cm in length — the longest of any columbine species.
- Only hawk moths with equally long proboscises can reach the nectar at the bottom of the spurs.
- The species name 'longissima' is Latin for 'the longest', referring to those remarkable spurs.
- It is native to a few limestone canyons in the Big Bend region of Texas and adjacent Mexico.
- Darwin used columbine spurs as evidence of coevolution between flowers and their pollinators.
Color meanings
Yellow
joyful aspiration