| Aquilegia maimanica | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Holotype ofAquilegia maimanica | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Ranunculales |
| Family: | Ranunculaceae |
| Genus: | Aquilegia |
| Species: | A. maimanica |
| Binomial name | |
| Aquilegia maimanica | |
Aquilegia maimanica is a species of flowering plant in the familyRanunculaceae native to the area of the formerMeymaneh Province in northwesternAfghanistan. The plant is understood as related toAquilegia moorcroftiana, which has a range spanning into Afghanistan.A. maimanica has pale-blue and white flowers. The species was first described by theFlora Iranica in 1992 from specimens collected byKarl Heinz Rechinger in 1959.
Aquilegia maimanica is aperennial plant that favors temperate biomes.[1] The plant grows with branching stems reaching heights between 40 centimetres (16 in) and 60 centimetres (24 in) tall. The stems feature manycauline leaves. The plant's flowers are suberect with pale-bluesepals andnectar spurs and white blades. The sepals are around 20 millimetres (0.79 in) long and the narrow, slightly curved spurs extend between 20 millimetres (0.79 in) and 25 millimetres (0.98 in) long.[2]: 104
Aquilegia maimanica was first described byKarl Heinz Rechinger in 1992 within theFlora Iranica.[1] The plant was described from twotype specimens.[2]: 104 The holotype was collected by Austrian botanist Rechinger on May 23, 1959, in Afghanistan and is held in theherbarium of theNatural History Museum, Vienna. Thetype locality is nearBilchiragh and it is listed as having been collected in a valley.[3] An isotype is held by theUniversity of Graz's Institute of Plant Sciences.[4]
In the descriptions provided byFlora Iranica,A. maimanica was one of three species ofAquilegia described as "species nova ex affinitate remotaAquilegia moorcroftiana",[2]: 103 with the other two beingAquilegia gracillima andAquilegia microcentra. American botanist Robert Nold wrote in 2003 that political circumstances meant that the species were likely relegated to being "nothing but names for years to come" and felt that further specimens were necessary to thoroughly confirm if the plants are distinct species related to, orvariants of,A. moorcroftiana. When describing the species, Nold listed them under his listing ofA. moorcroftiana, "hoping, somehow, thatA. moorcroftiana is even morepolymorphic than anyone suspects" and thatA. maimanica was a localized variant.[2]: 103–104
The word "columbine" derives from the Latin wordcolumbinus, meaning "dove", a reference to the flowers' appearance of a group of doves. The genus nameAquilegia may come from the Latin word for "eagle",aquila, in reference to the pedals' resemblance to eagle talons.[5]Aquilegia may also derive fromaquam legere, which is Latin for "to collect water", oraquilegium, a Latin word for a container of water.[6]Maimanica refers to the region of origin, the formerMeymaneh (Maimana) Province.[2]: 104
Aquilegia maimanica is native to the area of the formerMeymaneh Province in northwesternAfghanistan.[1][2]: 104
TheRoyal Botanic Gardens, Kew'sPlants of the World Online predicted the extinction risk level forA. maimanica as "threatened" with a low confidence level.[1]
