Aquilegia reuteriana Rchb. ex Nyman
Aquilegia alpina f. gracilis Chenev. & Braun-Blanq.
Aquilegia alpina var. minor Rouy & Foucaud
Aquilegia montana Sternb.
Aquilegia alpina L.
Alpine columbine
Alpine columbines are natives of the Swiss Alps and the northern Apennines. They are not found in the wild in North America.
Plants: Plants are 8–28″ (20–70 cm) high.
Leaves: Bluish-green rounded leaves, about 1½″ (3.8 cm) in size, are deeply divided into many rounded lobes, somewhat fernlike in appearance.
Flowers: Blue, blue-purple, or sometimes blue and white flowers are nodding (hanging downward). The spur characteristic of all colombines is staight or only slightly curved. Flowers appear from July to September.
Fruits: Five pod-shaped follicles with long beaks split open along one side to release shiny black seeds.
Habitats: Stony or rocky pastures in subalpine regions, with calcerous bedrock, at elevations of 4265–6234′ (1.3–1.9 km).
Edibility: 
Not edible.
The blue coloring in this image from Thomé, Prof. Dr. Otto Wilhelm, Flora von Deutschland Österreich und der Schweiz., 1885 is faded. 
Online References:
Aquilegia vulgaris subsp. alpina (L.) Hook.f. & Thomson
Aquilegia reuteriana Rchb. ex Nyman
Aquilegia alpina f. gracilis Chenev. & Braun-Blanq.
Aquilegia alpina var. minor Rouy & Foucaud
Aquilegia montana Sternb.
Aquilegia reuteriana Rchb. ex Nyman
Aquilegia alpina f. gracilis Chenev. & Braun-Blanq.
Aquilegia alpina var. minor Rouy & Foucaud
Aquilegia montana Sternb.
9/7/2010 · New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill, Boylston, Massachusetts · ≈ 1½ × 1′ (47 × 34 cm) 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients |
| Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms |
| Class | Magnoliopsida | Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves |
| Subclass | Magnoliidae | Includes magnolias, nutmeg, bay laurel, cinnamon, avocado, black pepper, and many others |
| Order | Ranunculales | Basal (evolved earlier) eudicots, also called “true dicots” |
| Family | Ranunculaceae | Buttercup family |
| Genus | Aquilegia | From Latin aquila, or “eagle,” for the flower’s resemblence to an eagle’s claw |
| Species | alpina | Of an alpine origin or habit |
Aquilegia alpina description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
© FloraFinder.org. All rights reserved.