''Aquilegia × miniana'' 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 ...

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

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

and

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

. It is a natural

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two diff ...

of ''

Aquilegia flavescens ''Aquilegia flavescens'', the yellow columbine, is a perennial species of flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae, native to the Rocky Mountains of the United States and Canada. Description ''Aquilegia flavescens'' grows to in height. The ...

'' and ''

Aquilegia formosa ''Aquilegia formosa'', the crimson columbine, western columbine, or (ambiguously) "red columbine", is a common wildflower native to western North America, from Alaska to Baja California, and eastward to Montana and Wyoming. Description ''Aquileg ...

''.

Description

''Aquilegia × miniana'' is a perennial

herbaceous plant Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition o ...

very similar to ''A. flavescens'' except for its

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

s, which are salmon-coloured or flushed with pink. The exact dimensions of the plant vary according to the relative proportions of each parent species in its ancestry, but in the

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

the

petal Petals are modified leaves that form an inner whorl surrounding the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly coloured or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corol ...

s measure 6 mm by 6 mm (as compared with 8 mm for ''A. flavescens'' and 4 mm for ''A. formosa''), and the

anther The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

s extend well beyond the petals at 10 mm (as is typical of ''A. formosa'' at , but not of A. flavescens at 5–8 mm).

Taxonomy

''Aquilegia × miniana'' is a natural hybrid of ''Aquilegia flavescens'' and ''Aquilegia formosa'', growing where the ranges of these two species overlap.

Taxonomical history

The plant was first discovered in the summer of 1916 by the American botanists James Francis Macbride and Edwin Blake Payson in the mountains of south-central Idaho, and described as a variety ''miniana'' of ''Aquilegia flavescens'', distinguished by its sepals being salmon-coloured or flushed with pink. They collected the

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wikt:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to ancho ...

on 19 July 1916 on the banks of Challis Creek in

Custer County, Idaho Custer County is a rural mountain county in the center of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,275, making it the fifth-least populous county in Idaho. The county seat is Challis. Established in 1881, the cou ...

, and further specimens in Idaho near the

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running Western, the second-longest-running Western series on ...

in the same county, in the

Smoky Mountains The Great Smoky Mountains (, ''Equa Dutsusdu Dodalv'') are a mountain range rising along the Tennessee–North Carolina border in the southeastern United States. They are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, ...

in Blaine County, and in the Sawtooth Range. Macbride and Payson recognised the hybrid origin of the plant in their description, noting that there existed intermediate forms of ''A. flavescens'' and ''A. formosa'' where their ranges overlapped, as is the case in central Idaho. In 2020, the botanists Quentin Cronk and Jeffrey S. Groh demonstrated that the type population was at least partly of hybrid origin, but

introgressed Introgression, also known as introgressive hybridization, in genetics is the transfer of genetic material from one species into the gene pool of another by the repeated backcrossing of an interspecific hybrid with one of its parent species. Introg ...

towards ''A. flavescens'', with the influence of each parent species varying proportionally according to the habitat and elevation. Following further analysis, Cronk then raised the taxon to the rank of species in 2023.

Etymology

The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

''miniana'' most likely derives from the mineral minium or red lead, referring to the reddish colour of the sepals.

Distribution and habitat

''Aquilegia × miniana'' is native to British Columbia and Idaho. It grows where the ranges of its parent species overlap: for ''A. flavescens'', subalpine and alpine meadows; and for ''A. formosa'', forest margins and light forest shade from sea level to montane forests. ''A. × miniana'' grows at altitudes between .

Conservation

NatureServe NatureServe, Inc. is a non-profit organization based in Arlington County, Virginia, United States, US, that provides proprietary wildlife conservation-related data, tools, and services to private and government clients, partner organizations, and ...

listed ''Aquilegia flavescens'' var. ''miniana'' (as "''miniata''") as Apparently Secure Variety (T4) worldwide. This status was last reviewed on . The species has not been assessed 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 ...

References

{{Portal bar, Biology, Plants, Idaho miniana Flora of British Columbia Flora of Idaho Plant nothospecies Plants described in 2023 Taxa named by Quentin Cronk Taxa named by James Francis Macbride Taxa named by Edwin Blake Payson