Columbine

Herb Listing

Aquilegia vulgaris

Common name: Garden columbine

Columbine is a perennial, herbaceous plant from Europe. Its prominently branching stem is sparsely hairy and grows from 1 to 2 1/2 feet high. Both the basal and lower stem leaves are shaggy-haired underneath and biternate, with the leaflets or ultimate segments broadly wedge-shaped. The nodding blue, purple, or white flowers grow at the ends of the branches during Summer. Their five petals have characteristic nectar-containing, backward-projecting spurs about 3/4 inch long.