Aquilegia coerulea James
Columbine, Colorado blue columbine
This columbine is native to the Rocky Mountains, and it is Colorado’s state flower.
Plants: Up to 1–3′ (30–91 cm) high. This is a highly variable plant.
Leaves: Dark green; purple, maroon, or pink in the fall. Leaves are variously divided and ½–1½″ (1.3–4.2 cm) in size.
Flowers: Although it is commonly blue, the flowers also appear pale yellow, white, pale pink, and bicolored. They are 1¾–4″ (5–10 cm) around, rarely up to 6″ (15 cm). Cultivars are available in many more color variations.
Fruits: Five pod-shaped follicles with long beaks split open along one side to release shiny black seeds.
Habitats: Mountain meadows.
By Josef F. Stuefer. 
Edibility: Poisonous 
All parts of this plant are
poisonous if ingested.
Online References:
Aquilegia caerulea James， orth. var.
6/2/2009 · Zion National Park, Utah · ≈ 4 × 2½″ (10 × 7.3 cm) 
ID is uncertain 
6/26/2006 · Ouray, Colorado · By Constance B. Kent ID is uncertain 
| 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 | coerulea | Blue |
Aquilegia coerulea description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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