| Aquilegia fosteri | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Aquilegia fosteri plants in Zion National Park, Utah | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Ranunculales |
| Family: | Ranunculaceae |
| Genus: | Aquilegia |
| Species: | A. fosteri |
| Binomial name | |
| Aquilegia fosteri | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Aquilegia fosteri,common nameFoster's columbine,[2] is aperennialflowering plant in the familyRanunculaceae, native toUtah[3] andArizona.[1]
Aquilegia fosteri is a perennialherbaceous plant withglandular-pubescent stems and foliage, and large red-and-yellow or pink-and-yellow flowers with longnectar spurs.[3][4]
The species was originally described by the American botanist Stanley Larson Welsh as avarietyfosteri ofAquilegia formosa, based on atype specimen collected by R. and R. Foster on the northern slope ofBridge Mountain inWashington County, Utah, on 25 May 1977, and two additional specimens collected by A. Woodbury in the same county in 1924 and held in theZion National Park herbarium.[3]
Welsh reassessed the plant as a distinct speciesA. fosteri in 2001, noting that specimens had also previously been assigned toAquilegia desertorum but rejecting this attribution on the basis the glandular pubescence of the lower part of the stem and larger sepals and petals ofA. fosteri.[4]
The species is known to hybridize withAquilegia chrysantha when seeds fall from the higher-elevation habitat ofA. fosteri and germinate on the floor ofZion Canyon, the usual habitat ofA. chrysantha. These hybrids lack the glandular foliage ofA. fosteri and often have very broad and pale spurs.[4]
Thespecific epithet and former variety namefosteri honours the American botanistRobert Alan Foster [es] (1938–2002), who collected the type specimen in 1977.[3]
Aquilegia fosteri is native to northwestern Arizona and Zion Canyon in Utah, where it grows high onsandstone canyon walls in rock crevices.[3][4]
As of January 2025[update], the species has not been assessed for theIUCN Red List.[5]
Media related toAquilegia alpina at Wikimedia Commons
