Lori's Columbine
R. Van Buren; R. Van Buren; Walter Fertig
Aquilegia loriae
NatureServe conservation status
Global (G-rank): G2Q
State (S-rank): S2
Utah Wildlife Action Plan status
- SGCN
External links
General information
Aquilegia loriae or Lori’s columbine gets its name for one of the type’s co-collectors, Lori Armstrong, who is a passionate rare-plant distribution researcher in Utah. There is much variation within this species from plant height to viscidity to leaf thickness to flower size. Taxonomists are divided on whether A. loriae is a separate species or a variety of A. micrantha.
Description
Aquilegia loriae or Lori’s columbine gets its name for one of the type’s co-collectors, Lori Armstrong, who is a passionate rare-plant distribution researcher in Utah. There is much variation within this species from plant height to viscidity to leaf thickness to flower size. Taxonomists are divided on whether A. loriae is a separate species or a variety of A. micrantha.
Phenology
Flowering from June through August.
Diagnostic characteristics
Aquilegia loriae’s main distinguishing traits are its flowers as A. loriae has sepals spreading to 8-13 mm long with flowers longer than they are wide compared to the similar A. formosa which has longer sepals at 14-27 mm and roughly equidistant flowers. Two other close relatives, A. micrantha, usually has white or cream flowers and A. elegantula has scarlet sepals and spurs with yellow petals while A. loriae has red maroon to pink sepals and spurs plus cream petals.
Species range
Lori’s columbine is endemic to the Navajo Basin and is only found in Kane County, Utah.
Taxonomy
No, this species does not have taxonomic discrepancies