耧斗菜种

The wild form of A. vulgaris grow flowering stems that can reach 90 cm (35 in) tall and often form a bushy clump at its base. In its native range, the species blooms from May to June. The flowers, with diameters measuring up to 60 mm (2.4 in) across, are typically blue or purple and possess petals with structures known as nectar spurs.

Associated with fertility goddesses in ancient Greece and ancient Rome, archeological evidence suggests A. vulgaris was in cultivation by the 2nd century AD in Roman Britain. The species represented virtuous behaviour, the Holy Spirit, and the Trinity within Christian art; in other contexts, such as William Shakespeare's Hamlet, A. vulgaris was a malevolent symbol. While it has been treated as an herbal remedy since the Middle Ages, some chemicals within the plant are toxic to humans. The species was given its scientific binomial name by Carl Linnaeus in his 1753 Species Plantarum.

Some horticultural varieties, known as cultivars, that were developed by the 16th century have remained popular with gardeners. Cultivars of A. vulgaris have continued to be developed, as have hybrids crossing it with other columbines. The resulting plants produce an array of colours and double-flowered examples.

Description

Aquilegia vulgaris is a perennial herbaceous flowering plant of the genus Aquilegia in the family Ranunculaceae. An A. vulgaris plant possesses a thick rootstock that can be either simple or branched, with one or two flowering stems. A. vulgaris plants often form bushy clumps from which their thin stems project upward. The aerial stems grow between 50 cm (20 in) and 90 cm (35 in) tall and can be between 3 mm (0.12 in) and 5 mm (0.20 in) wide at their bases. These stems are leafy and are pubescent (covered in hairs). The hairs are whitish and are absent on some plants of the species. The branches from the stems are glabrous (covered in glands) and pubescent, with the top portions of the plant showing more pubescence than the lower portions. The hairs are small and whitish.

Ecology

Aphids are known to attack columbines. This is particularly the case for A. vulgaris and hybrids closely related to it. Aphid infestations can result in stunted growth, sticky honeydew accumulations on the basal leaves, and flowers that are deformed or fail to open.

Pollination can be achieved through pollinators visiting flowers to access the nectar stored in the spurs. Studies across European A. vulgaris populations have long identified visitation by bumblebees (Bombus). Hummingbirds have also been observed to visit cultivated specimens of the species.

Phytochemistry

Aquilegia with cyanophores (cells that produce a blue colour), including A. vulgaris, have been observed to contain the cyanogenic glycoside compounds dhurrin and triglochinin. Cyanogenic glycosides generally taste bitter and can be toxic to animals and humans. Ingestion of 20 g (0.71 oz) of fresh A. vulgaris leaves by a human was observed as causing convulsions, respiratory distress, and heart failure. A child who consumed 12 A. vulgaris flowers experienced weakness of the limbs, cyanosis, drowsiness, and miosis; all symptoms abated after three hours.

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew's Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia project has identified A. vulgaris as poisonous.

Taxonomy

The first reliable descriptions of Aquilegia vulgaris were written by medieval European mystics and scientists including the 12th-century abbess Hildegard of Bingen – who considered the plant's herbal functions – and the 13th-century friar Albertus Magnus. The binomial name Aquilegia vulgaris was assigned by the Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus in his 1753 book Species Plantarum.

A vulgaris is the most morphologically variable species of Aquilegia. It is also at the head of a species complex that comprises the majority of European Aquilegia, with a minority morphologically aligning with the Aquilegia alpina complex. The A.

Distribution

Originally a European species, Aquilegia vulgaris possibly originated in the Balkans. It has since spread to become the most widely distributed Aquilegia species. Its range has expanded – both through natural radiation and human assistance – to include introduced populations that have sometimes become naturalized in Africa, Macaronesia, the Americas, and Oceania. The species is also present in Asia, with populations in the Russian Far East and Uzbekistan. These introduced populations typically originated from ornamental cultivation.

In Europe, the species ranges northward into southern Scandinavia and England. The boundaries of the species's distribution in northern Europe, simplified by the fact that A.

Cultivation

Archaeobotanical evidence suggests that Aquilegia vulgaris was cultivated for ornamental purposes in 3rd-century AD Roman Britain. The discoveries of singular A. vulgaris seeds in burnt waste pits at Alcester and Leicester have been interpreted as evidence of their planting in gardens. Finds of columbines at a late Saxon site near Winchester Cathedral and three later medieval German sites have also been interpreted as using the plant for gardening. In 12th-century Italy, people may have supported A. vulgaris or Aquilegia atrata populations near religious structures, possibly due to the contemporary treatment of columbines as Christian symbols.

By the 16th century, selectively bred horticultural A. vulgaris were being recorded in Europe.

In culture

European columbines such as Aquilegia vulgaris have been assigned several meanings since the ancient period. Within art, A. vulgaris has been a symbol of both moral and immoral behaviours, as well as an ornamental motif. In ancient Greece and ancient Rome, the spurs of columbines were interpreted as phallic and the plants were associated with the fertility goddesses Aphrodite and Venus. In William Shakespeare's Elizabethan drama Hamlet, the character Ophelia presents King Claudius with flowers that include A. vulgaris, where the species is symbolic of deception and serves as an omen of death. In The Garden of Earthly Delights (1503–1504) by Hieronymus Bosch, A. vulgaris serves as a symbol for bodily pleasures.