Aquilegia fosteri
| Aquilegia fosteri | |
|---|---|
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| Aquilegia fosteri plants in Zion National Park, Utah | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Ranunculales |
| Family: | Ranunculaceae |
| Genus: | Aquilegia |
| Species: | A. fosteri
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| Binomial name | |
| Aquilegia fosteri | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Aquilegia fosteri, common name Foster's columbine,[2] is a perennial flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae, native to Utah[3] and Arizona.[1]
Description
[edit]Aquilegia fosteri is a perennial herbaceous plant with glandular-pubescent stems and foliage, and large red-and-yellow or pink-and-yellow flowers with long nectar spurs.[3][4]
Taxonomy
[edit]The species was originally described by the American botanist Stanley Larson Welsh as a variety fosteri of Aquilegia formosa, based on a type specimen collected by R. and R. Foster on the northern slope of Bridge Mountain in Washington County, Utah, on 25 May 1977, and two additional specimens collected by A. Woodbury in the same county in 1924 and held in the Zion National Park herbarium.[3]
Welsh reassessed the plant as a distinct species A. fosteri in 2001, noting that specimens had also previously been assigned to Aquilegia desertorum but rejecting this attribution on the basis the glandular pubescence of the lower part of the stem and larger sepals and petals of A. fosteri.[4]
The species is known to hybridize with Aquilegia chrysantha when seeds fall from the higher-elevation habitat of A. fosteri and germinate on the floor of Zion Canyon, the usual habitat of A. chrysantha. These hybrids lack the glandular foliage of A. fosteri and often have very broad and pale spurs.[4]
Etymology
[edit]The specific epithet and former variety name fosteri honours the American botanist Robert Alan Foster (1938–2002), who collected the type specimen in 1977.[3]
Distribution and habitat
[edit]Aquilegia fosteri is native to northwestern Arizona and Zion Canyon in Utah, where it grows high on sandstone canyon walls in rock crevices.[3][4]
Conservation
[edit]As of January 2025[update], the species has not been assessed for the IUCN Red List.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Aquilegia fosteri S.L.Welsh". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
- ^ Fertig, Walter (November 2009). "Developing a Utah Rare Plant List" (PDF). Sego Lily. 32 (6): 14. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
- ^ a b c d e Welsh, Stanley L. (1986). "New taxa and combinations in the Utah flora". The Great Basin Naturalist. 46 (2): 259–260. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
- ^ a b c d Welsh, Stanley L. (2001). "New taxa and nomenclatural proposals in miscellaneous families — Utah and Arizona". Rhodora. 103: 90–92. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
- ^ "Aquilegia - genus". IUCN Red List. 2025. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
External links
[edit]
Media related to Aquilegia alpina at Wikimedia Commons- Close-up of Aquilegia fosteri flower by Alan Cressler on Flickr
