Aquilegia micrantha var. grahamii

Aquilegia micrantha var. grahamii
Conservation status
Imperiled  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Ranunculales
Family:	Ranunculaceae
Genus:	Aquilegia
Species:	A. micrantha
Variety:	A. m. var. grahamii
Trinomial name
Aquilegia micrantha var. grahamii (S.L. Welsh & Goodrich) N.H. Holmgren & P.K.Holmgren
class=notpageimage| Location of Hole in the Wall Canyon in Uintah County, Utah, one of three adjacent canyons that constitute the native range of Aquilegia micrantha var. grahamii.
Synonyms
Aquilegia grahamii S.L.Welsh & Goodrich

Aquilegia micrantha var. grahamii, common name Graham's columbine, is a variety of perennial flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae, endemic to Utah in the United States.

Description

Aquilegia micrantha var. grahamii grows to 25–60 cm (9.8–23.6 in) tall with glandular stems. The leaves are mainly basal, 4–24 cm (1.6–9.4 in) long, biternate, sticky, and glandular. The plant produces 2–6 or more nodding flowers, somewhat longer than broad. The sepals are red-fuchsia in colour, measure 11–13 mm (0.43–0.51 in) long, and spread horizontally. The petals have clear yellow blades 5–6 mm (0.20–0.24 in) long with red-fuchsia nectar spurs of 18–21 mm (0.71–0.83 in). The stamens protrude beyond the petals by a further 9–13 mm (0.35–0.51 in).

Taxonomy

Aquilegia micrantha var. grahamii was originally described in 1993 by Stanley Larson Welsh and Sherel Goodrich as a separate species, Aquilegia grahamii. They noted in their description that all glandular varieties of Aquilegia were previously classified as Aquilegia micrantha on that basis, ignoring, in their view, other features of the plant and phytogeography. However, in 2012 Noel Herman Holmgren and Patricia Kern Holmgren reclassified the plant as a variety of Aquilegia micrantha, an interpretation now favoured by authorities such as the International Plant Names Index.

Etymology

The variety name (and former specific epithet) grahamii honours Edward Harrison Graham (1902–1966), the botanist who first collected specimens of the plant in 1935.

Distribution and habitat

Graham's columbine is endemic to three adjacent deep, shaded canyons in on the south slope of the Uinta Mountains north of Vernal, in eastern Uintah County of northeast Utah, in and near to Ashley National Forest. It grows in sandy soil below sandstone cliffs at an altitude of 1,980–2,320 m (6,500–7,610 ft).

Ecology

Aquilegia micrantha var. grahamii flowers in June and July and is associated with Calamagrostis scopulorum (ditch reed grass).

Conservation

As of November 2024, NatureServe listed Aquilegia micrantha var. grahamii (under the name Aquilegia grahamii) as Imperiled (G2) worldwide. This status was last reviewed on 26 July 2021.

The species appears to be safe from immediate threat from humans due to its steep isolated habitat in protected lands, although some of its range may intersect a phosphate mine. It relies on spring water to survive so may be at risk from recent droughts in the state.