BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Aquilegia brevistyla
blue columbine
| Scientific Name: | Aquilegia brevistyla Hook. | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Name: | blue columbine | ||||||||||
| Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Scientific Name - Concept Reference: | Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR. | ||||||||||
| Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
| Species Group: | Vascular Plant | ||||||||||
| Species Code: | AQUIBRE | ||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G5 (May 2016) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | S5 (Apr 2019) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Yellow | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | |||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | |||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | 4 - Secure (2010) | ||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | Short-styled Columbine is a slender, sparingly branched, perennial with stems up to 80 cm tall that are lightly pubescent below and glandular above. The basal leaves have long petioles with blades that are lobed and wavy-margined; the few-stemed leaves are lobed and nearly without petioles. The typical columbine flowers are 15-25 mm long with blue or purple reflexed sepals and yellowish-white, horn-shaped petals; the bluish spurs of the petals are curved inward at the tip and are 6-8 mm long. Stamens and styles barely protrude beyond the petals; the five-lobed seed capsules are pubescent. | ||||||||||
| Technical Description: | |||||||||||
| Diagnostic Characteristics: | This species can be distinguished from other blue-flowered columbines in Montana by the incurved tips of the petal spurs. | ||||||||||
| Similar Species: | |||||||||||
| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
|||||||||||
| Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
|||||||||||
| Elevation (m) (min / max): | Provincial: | ||||||||||
| Known Pests: | |||||||||||
| Pollen Vector: | |||||||||||
| Pollinator: | |||||||||||
| Dispersal: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Inventory | |||||||||||
| Inventory Priority: | |||||||||||
| Ownership of occurrences (Known locations): | |||||||||||
| Inventory Need: | |||||||||||
| Economic Attributes | |||||||||||
| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | Eastern Alaska to Ontario south to British Columbia and southern Manitoba. Disjunct in central Montana and the Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming. | ||||||||||
| Disjunct, more common elsewhere: | |||||||||||
| Peripheral, major distribution elsewhere: | |||||||||||
| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
| Global Information Author: | JM | ||||||||||
| Last Updated: | Sep 24, 1994 | ||||||||||
| Provincial Information Author: | |||||||||||
| Last Updated: | |||||||||||
| Last Literature Search: | |||||||||||
| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
Dawe, J. C. and D. F. Murray. 1981. Chromosome numbers of selected Alaskan vascular plants. Canadian Journal of Botany 59:1373-1381. |
|||||||||||
Mathews, S.Y. 1989. Sensitive plant surveys, 1989: U.S. Forest Service, Region 1, Gallatin National Forest, Montana. Unpublished report to the USDA Forest Service, Gallatin National Forest, Bozeman, Montana. Montana Natural Heritage Program, Helena, MT. 85 pp. |
|||||||||||
Roe, L. S. 1992. Status review of AQUILEGIA BREVISTYLA, USDA Forest Service, Region 1, Lewis and Clark National Forest. Unpublished report. Montana Natural Heritage Program, Helena, MT. 47 pp. |
|||||||||||
Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 1994. Species Summary: Aquilegia brevistyla. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 10, 2026).