Aquilegia Atrata
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''Aquilegia atrata'', the dark columbine, is a
perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...
species of
flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...
in the family
Ranunculaceae Ranunculaceae (, buttercup or crowfoot family; Latin "little frog", from "frog") is a family (biology), family of over 2,000 known species of flowering plants in 43 genera, distributed worldwide. The largest genera are ''Ranunculus'' (600 spec ...
, native to the
Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...
and
Apennine Mountains The Apennines or Apennine Mountains ( ; or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; or – a singular with plural meaning; )Latin ''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which would be segmented ''Apenn-inus'', often used with nouns s ...
.


Description

As the common name suggests, the species typically, but not always, has dark flowers, either brown, purple or wine-colored. At around in height, it is smaller than the similar, but more widespread species ''
Aquilegia vulgaris ''Aquilegia vulgaris'' is a species of perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Aquilegia'' (columbine) in the family Ranunculaceae. Commonly called the common columbine, European crowfoot, and granny's bonnet, it presently possesses the most exp ...
'', with stamens protruding further from the flower.


Taxonomy

The specific name ''atrata'' is
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
for "blackened" or "darkened", referring to the dark-coloured flowers. It is a currently accepted species in the ''Aquilegia vulgaris'' complex, but is not genetically distinguishable from the other members of the complex.


Distribution and habitat

The species is native to mountainous areas of Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Slovakia, France, Italy, and Slovenia, and has been introduced to the Czech Republic and Russia (western
Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...
). It grows in alpine and subalpine habitats in rocky
limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
areas and
beech Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...
,
silver fir Silver fir is a common name for several trees and may refer to: *''Abies alba'', native to Europe *''Abies amabilis'', native to western North America *''Abies pindrow ''Abies pindrow'', the pindrow fir, West Himalayan fir, or silver fir, is ...
, and
Scots pine ''Pinus sylvestris'', the Scots pine (UK), Scotch pine (US), Baltic pine, or European red pine is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae that is native to Eurasia. It can readily be identified by its combination of fairly short, blue-gr ...
forests.


Ecology

''Aquilegia atrata'' flowers from June to July. The larvae of the columbine sawfly '' Pristiphora rufipes'' have been recorded feeding on the plant, as have the leaf miner '' Phytomyza aquilegiae'' and the
tortrix moth The Tortricidae are a family of moths, commonly known as tortrix moths or leafroller moths, in the order Lepidoptera. This large family has over 11,000 species described, and is the sole member of the superfamily Tortricoidea, although the genu ...
''
Cnephasia sedana ''Cnephasia'' is a genus of tortrix moths (family Tortricidae). It belongs to the subfamily Tortricinae and therein to the tribe Cnephasiini, of which it is the type genus. Taxonomy and systematics The type species around which ''Cnephasia'' wa ...
''. The leaves are also attacked by the fungi '' Erysiphe aquilegiae'' var. ''aquilegiae'' (causing
powdery mildew Powdery mildew is a fungus, fungal disease that affects a wide range of plants. Powdery mildew diseases are caused by many different species of Ascomycota, ascomycete fungi in the order Erysiphales. Powdery mildew is one of the easier plant disea ...
), '' Puccinia scarlensis'', and ''
Puccinia agrostidis ''Puccinia'' is a genus of fungi. All species in this genus are obligate plant pathogens and are known as rusts. The genus contains about 4000 species. The genus name of ''Puccinia'' is in honour of Tommaso Puccini (died 1735), who was an Itali ...
''.


Conservation

''Aquilegia atrata'' has not been evaluated for the
IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological ...
. It is fully protected in the Swiss
cantons A canton is a type of administrative division of a country. In general, cantons are relatively small in terms of area and population when compared with other administrative divisions such as counties, departments, or provinces. Internationally, th ...
of
Aargau Aargau ( ; ), more formally the Canton of Aargau (; ; ; ), is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven districts and its capital is Aarau. Aargau is one of the most nort ...
,
Appenzell Ausserrhoden Canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden ( ; ; ; ), in English sometimes Appenzell Outer Rhodes, is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of twenty municipalities. The seat of the gove ...
, and
Obwalden Canton of Obwalden or Obwald ( ; ; ; ) is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of seven municipalities and the seat of the government and parliament is in Sarnen. It is traditio ...
, and partially protected in
Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...
and St. Gallen.


References


External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q149749 atrata Flora of Austria Flora of France Flora of Germany Flora of Italy Flora of Slovakia Flora of Slovenia Flora of Switzerland Plants described in 1830 Taxa named by Wilhelm Daniel Joseph Koch Least concern biota of Europe Flora of the Alps Flora of the Czech Republic Flora of Russia