Red columbine

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More names for this plant

The Dakota and Anishinaabe were among the earliest people to name Minnesota’s plants and animals, as well as to understand them in relation to Minnesota’s climate and seasons. Those original names are still in use, and several are included on the Season Watch website. However, complete translations were not available.

Latin (or scientific name): Aquilegia canadensis

The scientific community has a convention of assigning agreed-upon Latin names to every kind of organism. Using scientific names helps people communicate confidently about the same organism and organize lifeforms based on how closely related they are.

More common names: Canada columbine, columbine, wild columbine

Page contents

About red columbine

Visual guide to phenology

Graphs and historical data

More resources

Red colubmine in a forest setting
Red columbine
May 20, 2018, Pine County, Minnesota
Photo © eknuth, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC)
iNaturalist observation

About red columbine

  • Red columbine is a herbaceous plant native to most areas of Minnesota. It grows one to three feet tall and has leaves that are made up of three lobed leaflets.
  • This plant usually lives three to five years and produces flowers after its first year. 
  • Its red and yellow flowers are produced in May to July. 
  • The flowers contain nectar that is collected by pollinators, specifically hummingbirds and bumble bees.

Visual guide to phenology

Watch for the appearance of leaves, flowers, and fruits. Take notice of when flowers open and fruits ripen.

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Note to observers

This page explains general clues to watch for when observing red columbine phenology. However, this page does not explain how to identify this plant or collect data in a standardized way.

Dried up fruit that remain from last year's growing season.
In this photo, red columbine's new leaves are purple and green in color. They poke up from the leaf litter.
Fresh green leaves of a red columbine plant grow from a rocky, mossy substrate.
Red columbine plant with unopened flowers. The flowers have long narrow petals, gradated from yellow to red.
Close-up of unopened flowers. Buds come to a sharp tip away from the stem.
Open flower with five-part symmetry. Five tunnel-shaped structures are yellow in color and surrounded by red petal-like structures.
Spent flower of the red columbine. It looks similar to the unopened flower except the petals are slightly wrinkly.
Red columbine's fruit is five-pronged and capsule-like and changes from green to tan or brown. This one is unripe, green, with red tipped prongs.
Red columbine plant with an unripe fruit, which formed at the top of the plant where a flower was. The fruit is light green and shaped like a date pit with five-part symmetry.
Ripe fruit of the red columbine are brown and dry. They are shaped like 5 thin tubes with pointy tips.
Red columbine leaves turn colors like yellow and pink as they lose their green.

Graphs and historical data

Note: The Orientation Center provides a map, as well as information on reading graphs; interpreting summary statistics, who collected the data and how; and how to download datasets for independent exploration.


Carlton County

Flowering

  • Earliest: May 14 (occurred in 2005)
  • Average: May 26
  • Latest: June 9 (occurred in 2002 and 2013)
Scatterplot showing red colubmine phenology in Carlton County, Minnesota

Download this dataset (.csv file)

Hennepin County

Flowering

  • Earliest: April 26 (occurred in 1987)
  • Average: May 14
  • Latest: May 25 (occurred in 1983)
Scatterplot showing red columbine phenology in Hennepin County, Minnesota

Download this dataset (.csv file)

Last flower

  • Earliest: June 1 (occurred in 1982)
  • Average: June 24
  • Latest: July 18 (occurred in 1963)
Scatterplot showing red columbine phenology in Hennepin County, Minnesota

Download this dataset (.csv file)

Itasca County

Flowering

  • Earliest: May 11 (occurred in 1987)
  • Average: May 26
  • Latest: June 17 (occurred in 2013)
Scatterplot showing red columbine phenology in Itasca County, Minnesota

Download this dataset (.csv file)

More resources

Red columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) in the Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas

Red columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) in Nature's Notebook

Red columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) fact sheet by US Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service

 

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Times of year

Co-author: Lynsey Nass, Minnesota Master Naturalist