ABOUT LISA BERRY
Brown's or Wild Peony
Great Red Paintbrush
Little Elephant's Head
Red Mountain Heather
Sierra Shooting Star
Scientific Name: Aquilegia formosa
Common Name: Crimson Columbine
Color: Red to Yellow
Five yellow petals form tubes that taper into red nectar spurs with bulbous tips. The spurs alternate between flared red sepals. Many long, yellow stamens protrude beyond the petals.
Common up to 9500 ft. in a variety of habitats, including moist forest and woodland openings, stream banks, and rocky slopes and ledges.
Although the flowers make a pretty garnish and can be consumed in small quantities, ingestion is not recommended as the rest of the plant, especially the roots and seeds, can be highly toxic.
This flower is pollinated by the long proboscises of hummingbirds and bumblebees, though smaller bees often bite through the bulb at the tip of the spur and steal the nectar. Columbine was used historically for many ailments, including heart palpitations, boils, and ulcers.