COLUMBINE (Aquilegia vulgaris), an erect, perennial, herb aceous plant of the crowfoot family (Ranunculaceae). The slen der stem bears delicate, long-stalked, deeply divided leaves with blunt segments, and a loose panicle of handsome, drooping, blue or white flowers, which are characterized by having all the five petals spurred. The plant occurs wild in woods and thickets in England and Ireland, flowering in early summer, and is widely naturalized in eastern North America. It is well known in culti vation in many varieties and hybrids. There are about 75 species of columbine, natives of north temperate regions, together with numerous varietal forms and crosses developed by cultivation. The 20 odd species found in North America, chiefly in the Rocky Mountain region, rank among the most beautiful wild flowers of the continent, several of which, including the following, are widely cultivated. The eastern columbine (A. canadensis), called also honeysuckle and rock bells, found in dry woods from Nova Scotia to Northwest Territory and southward to Florida and Texas, with nodding, scarlet and yellow flowers, an inch or more across, is a favorite spring wild flower. The Rocky Mountain columbine (A. caerulea), with handsome, erect, blue and white flowers, 2 in. or more across and spurs 2 in. long, is the State flower of Colorado. The golden columbine (A. chrysantha), found from western Texas to Arizona, grows 3 ft. to 4 ft. high, with clear yellow flowers, sometimes 3 in. across and very slender spurs about 3 in. long. The showy columbine (A. formosa), which ranges from Utah and northern California to Montana and Alaska, has nodding red and yellow flowers, about 2 in. across, with short, thick spurs. The common columbine (A. truncata) of California, with pendulous, scarlet flowers and short spurs, occurs almost throughout the State and also in Nevada.
Columbine, in pantomime (q.v.), is the fairy-like dancer who is courted by Harlequin. In the mediaeval Italian popular comedy she was Harlequin's daughter. (See COMMEDIA DELL' ARTE.)