List of Aquilegia species

Aquilegia, commonly known as columbines, is a genus comprising 130 species according to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew's Plants of the World Online as of May 2025. According to different taxonomic authorities, the genus Aquilegia comprises between 70 and over 400 taxa. Some totals correspond more closely with Philip A. Munz's 1946 total of 67, while online Tropicos and the International Plant Names Index have totals of over 200 and 500, respectively.

The American botanist and gardener Robert Nold attributed the substantial total of named species, subspecies, and varieties to the 19th-century practice of assigning names to even minutely distinct specimens. However, Nold also held that overly broad species could increase the number of varietal names. The Italian botanist Enio Nardi stated that authors assessing Aquilegia as containing fewer than 100 species "either mask or underestimate their splitting into subspecies, many of which were originally described at the species level" and remain accepted as species in taxonomic indices.

The type species of the genus is A. vulgaris, a European columbine with high levels of physical variability. Most European Aquilegia are morphologically similar to A. vulgaris, sometimes to the point where visually them discerning from A. vulgaris is difficult. However, A. vulgaris is also considered to encompass Iberian and North African columbines that are not accepted as separate species for reasons that Nardi said were founded in "tradition, more cultural than scientific".

List of taxa

Aquilegia alpina L. – alpine columbine Aquilegia amaliae - Amalia's columbine Aquilegia apuana Aquilegia aradanica Aquilegia aragonensis Aquilegia atrata W.D.J.Koch – dark columbine Aquilegia atrovinosa Popov ex Gamajun. Aquilegia atwoodii Aquilegia aurea Janka Aquilegia ballii Aquilegia baluchistanica Aquilegia barbaricina Arrigoni & E.Nardi – Barbaricina columbine Aquilegia barnebyi – oil shale columbine Aquilegia barykinae Aquilegia bashahrica Aquilegia bernardii Gren. & Godr. – Bernard's columbine Aquilegia bertolonii Schott – Bertoloni columbine Aquilegia blecicii Podobnik - Blečić's columbine Aquilegia borodinii Aquilegia brevistyla – smallflower columbine Aquilegia buergeriana Siebold & Zucc. Aquilegia canadensis – Canadian columbine, wild columbine Aquilegia cazorlensis Aquilegia champagnatii Moraldo, E.Nardi & la Valva Aquilegia chaplinei Aquilegia chitralensis Aquilegia chrysantha – golden columbine Aquilegia coerulea – Colorado blue columbine Aquilegia colchica Aquilegia confusa Aquilegia cossoniana Aquilegia × cottia Aquilegia cremnophila Aquilegia cymosa Aquilegia daingolica Aquilegia desertorum (M.E.Jones) Cockerell ex A.Heller – desert columbine Aquilegia desolaticola S.L.Welsh & N.D.Atwood – desolation columbine, Desolation Canyon columbine Aquilegia dichroa Aquilegia dinarica Beck - Dinaric columbine Aquilegia discolor Aquilegia dumeticola Aquilegia ecalcarata – spurless columbine, false columbine Aquilegia einseleana F.W.Schultz – Einsele's columbine Aquilegia elegantula – western red columbine Aquilegia × emodi Aquilegia eximia – Van Houtte's columbine Aquilegia flabellata – fan columbine, Japanese wodamakinari (including A. akitensis) Aquilegia flavescens – yellow columbine Aquilegia formosa – crimson columbine, western columbine Aquilegia formosa var. truncata – red columbine, western columbine Aquilegia fosteri Aquilegia fragrans Benth. – fragrant columbine Aquilegia ganboldii Aquilegia gegica Aquilegia glandulosa Fisch. ex Link. – Siberian columbine, Altai columbine Aquilegia gracillima Aquilegia grata Aquilegia grubovii Aquilegia guarensis Aquilegia hebeica Aquilegia hinckleyana Aquilegia hirsutissima Aquilegia hispanica Aquilegia holmgrenii Aquilegia × hybrida Sims – hybrids of Aquilegia vulgaris and Aquilegia canadensis Aquilegia incurvata P.K.Hsiao - Qinling columbine Aquilegia iulia - Julian columbine Aquilegia jonesii Parry – Jones' columbine Aquilegia kamelinii Aquilegia kanawarensis Aquilegia kansuensis Aquilegia karatavica Mikeschin Aquilegia karelinii (Baker) O.Fedtsch. & B.Fedtsch. - Afghan columbine Aquilegia kitaibelii Schott Aquilegia kozakii Aquilegia kubanica Aquilegia lactiflora Kar. & Kir. Aquilegia laramiensis – Laramie columbine Aquilegia litardierei Briq. Aquilegia longissima – Gray. – longspur columbine, long-spurred columbine Aquilegia lucensis Aquilegia magellensis F.Conti & Soldano – Magella columbine Aquilegia maimanica Aquilegia marcelliana Aquilegia × maruyamana Aquilegia meridionalis Aquilegia micrantha Eastw. – Mancos columbine, Bluff City columbine Aquilegia micrantha var. grahamii – Graham's columbine Aquilegia micrantha var. loriae – Lori's columbine Aquilegia micrantha var. mancosana Aquilegia microcentra Aquilegia × miniana Aquilegia montsicciana Aquilegia moorcroftiana Aquilegia nigricans Baumg. – Bulgarian columbine Aquilegia nikolicii Aquilegia nivalis Aquilegia nugorensis Arrigoni & E.Nardi Aquilegia nuragica – Nuragica columbine Aquilegia ochotensis Aquilegia × oenipontana Aquilegia olympica Boiss. Aquilegia ophiolithica Aquilegia ottonis Orph. ex Boiss. Aquilegia oxysepala Aquilegia pancicii Degen Aquilegia parviflora Aquilegia paui Aquilegia pubescens – Sierra columbine, Coville's columbine Aquilegia pubiflora Aquilegia pyrenaica DC. – Pyrenean columbine Aquilegia reuteri Aquilegia rockii Aquilegia saxifraga Aquilegia saximontana – Rocky Mountain columbine Aquilegia scopulorum – blue columbine, Utah columbine Aquilegia shockleyi – desert columbine Aquilegia sibirica – Siberian columbine Aquilegia sicula Aquilegia skinneri Aquilegia sternbergii Aquilegia subscaposa Aquilegia synakensis Aquilegia taygetea Aquilegia tianschanica Butkov Aquilegia transsilvanica Schur Aquilegia turczaninowii Aquilegia tuvinica Aquilegia ullepitschii Aquilegia vicaria Aquilegia viridiflora Pall. – green columbine, green-flowered columbine Aquilegia viscosa Gouan Aquilegia vitalii Aquilegia vulgaris – common columbine, European columbine, granny's nightcap Aquilegia vulgaris subsp. nevadensis Aquilegia wittmanniana Aquilegia xinjiangensis Aquilegia yabeana Aquilegia yangii Aquilegia zapateri

References