Aquilegia dinarica explained

Aquilegia dinarica, the Dinaric columbine, is a perennial species of plant in the family Ranunculaceae, endemic to the Dinaric Alps of northern Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Montenegro.^[1]

Description

The Dinaric columbine grows to 20cm, with blue sepals and white petals sometimes flushed with blue or violet. The basal leaves are ternate, and the leaflets trifid, grey and hairy.^[2]

Habitat

It grows primarily in calcareous rocks and scree^[2] at altitudes between 1200m and 2100m, and sometimes in snow valleys and snow pits at the edge of coniferous woodland.^[3] It is adapted to open habitats, which separates the species ecologically from the sympatric A. grata.^[4]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Aquilegia dinarica Beck . . 2023 . Plants of the World Online . Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . 29 March 2024.
2. Web site: Aquilegia dinarica . . 2018 . Alpine Garden Society Plant Encyclopaedia . Alpine Garden Society . 29 March 2024.
3. Paul Ascherson & Paul Graebner Synopsis der mitteleuropäischen Flora, Band 5/2, Ranales (Ranunculaceae, Fortsetzung). Borntraeger, Leipzig, 1929, S. 647.
4. Niketić . Marjan . Cikovac . Pavle . Stevanović . Vladimir . 2013 . Taxonomic and Nomenclature Notes on Balkan Columbines (Aquilegia L., Ranunculaceae) . Bulletin of the Natural History Museum . 6 . 33–42 . 10.5937/bnhmb1306033N.