Columbine Flower or Rocky Mountain Columbine-White

and Lavender (Aquilegia caerules) is the official Colorado State Flower. Columbine flower is a

spring-blooming flower. The Columbine flower (Colorado

Blue Columbine) was designated as the Colorado state flower in April, 1899.

The Columbine Flower, also known as the

Colorado Columbine, was named from a Latin word Columba, which means dove, as it looked like the bird of peace.

Columbine flowers grow from Nova Scotia

to the Northwest territories and continue

South into areas of Florida and Texas. Several species of

Columbine flowers are grown in gardens for

ornamental and landscaping purposes.

Aquilegia vulgaris - a European Columbine is a traditional garden

flower in British Isles, and several of the species that are native to North America are popular garden plants. Columbine flowers are known for

their distinctive bell-shaped flowers, with each petal modified

into an elongated nectar spur, and are very fragrant.

In 1925, the General Assembly prohibited the destruction of this rare

species - Columbine flowers. Columbine

flowers are very variable in color, from pale blue (as in the species name caerulea) to white, pale

yellow and pinkish.

Very commonly the Columbine flowers are

bicolored, with the sepals a different shade

to the petals. The Columbine

flower is the most honored state flower in all of the United

States. The Columbine flower transforms into a fruit

with in five erect follicles and shiny black

seeds.

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