Aquilegia chaplinei

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Aquilegia chaplinei
Aquilegia chaplinei flowers.jpg
Aquilegia chapelinei (Chaplin's columbine) flowers
Status TNC G2.svg
Imperiled  (NatureServe) [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Ranunculales
Family: Ranunculaceae
Genus: Aquilegia
Species:
A. chaplinei
Binomial name
Aquilegia chaplinei
Aquilegia chaplinei range.jpg
Native range (in red) in the US [2]
Synonyms [3]

Aquilegia chrysantha var. chaplinei(Standl. ex Payson) Lott

Contents

Aquilegia chaplinei, also known as Chaplin's columbine, [note 1] is a species of flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae native to the arid Guadalupe and Sacramento Mountains of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico in the West South Central United States. A perennial plant with an average height of 40 centimeters (16 in), A. chaplinei is characterized as a dwarf version of its close relative Aquilegia chrysantha and is sometimes considered a variant of this species under the name Aquilegia chrysantha var. chaplinei.

A. chaplinei's leaves are in a basal arrangement (sprouting from base of the shoot) and give the plant a fern-like appearance when not flowering. Its flowers are pale yellow. It is named for William Ridgley Chapline, the first person to collect the plant and who collected the holotype from Sitting Bull Falls in New Mexico in 1916. [5] : 74  [6] : 157 

The plant has been the subject of conservation protections, including a New Mexican law prohibiting the collection of seeds from wild examples. In 2017, a consortium of state and federal agencies determined the species was "effectively conserved".

Description

Aquilegia chaplinei is a perennial plant with a height from 20 centimeters (7.9 in) to 50 centimeters (20 in), [7] averaging 40 centimeters (16 in) tall. This is somewhat shorter than the closely related Aquilegia chrysantha , which can reach up to 120 centimeters (47 in) tall. [5] : 74–75 A. chaplinei's type locality at an altitude of 1,650 meters (5,410 ft) suggests that it is better adapted than A. chrysantha to arid environments. [6] : 157 A. chaplinei has a slender stem that is glabrous (smooth) with the exception of the inflorescence. [6] : 156 

Possessing leaves in a basal arrangement (sprouting from base of the shoot), A. chaplinei has leaves which extend on slender petioles that are 7 centimeters (2.8 in) to 10 centimeters (3.9 in) long. [6] : 156  The leaves themselves range from bi- to barely triternately compound. A. chaplinei has a fern-like appearance when not flowering. [6] : 156  [5] : 74–75  The leaves are semi-evergreen. [4]

It has pale yellow flowers. Its spurs range from 30 millimeters (1.2 in) to 40 millimeters (1.6 in) and can be slender, straight, or slightly spreading. [5] : 74  The short spurs and sepals under 2 centimeters long – between 13 millimeters (0.51 in) and 16 millimeters (0.63 in) [5] : 74  – are the primary distinguishing features that separate A. chaplinei from A. chrysantha. [4] A. chaplinei has yellow sepals. [2] The flowers bloom between April and November, with greatest reliability in June and July. [4] [8]

Breeding is performed through its unisexual flowers, meaning that individual flowers exclusively possess either stamen or carpels, making it monoecious. [4] Its seeds are nearly 2 millimeters (0.079 in) long. [9] : 139 

Taxonomy

Aquilegia chaplinei is within the Aquilegia (columbine) genus. [3] The plant, including its holotype, [10] was first collected by William Ridgely Chapline from Sitting Bull Falls in Eddy County, New Mexico, on May 25, 1916. [6] : 157  [9] : 141  Chapline was a rangeland management scientist who was employed by the United States Department of Agriculture and later served as the chief of forest conservation within the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization. [11]

The plant was formally described by the binomial Aquilegia chaplinei in 1918 within Edwin Blake Payson's "The North American Species of Aquilegia", published in Contributions from the United States National Herbarium . Payson credited Paul Carpenter Standley with the initial description. [6] : 156–157  [2] [note 2] The holotype is now in the collection of the National Museum of Natural History. [10]

Aquilegia chaplinei.jpg
Sitting Bull Falls Nov 2012 A.jpg
The holotype of Aquilegia chaplinei (left) was collected by W. R. Chapline from Sitting Bull Falls (right) in May 1916.

In 1985, Emily J. Lott proposed reclassifying the plant as Aquilegia chrysantha var. chaplinei in the journal Phytologia . [note 3] Lott's proposal came out of her study of plants in the Chihuahuan Desert, stemming from her 1979 unpublished master's thesis on Aquilegia in the Trans-Pecos region of Texas. [12] The renaming as a variant of A. chrysantha proposed by Lott was not broadly accepted outside of Texas but remains in use within that state. [5] : 74  The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center of the University of Texas at Austin utilizes the name proposed by Lott for the plant, [4] while the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) uses A. chaplinei. [8]

Names

The word columbine derives from the Latin word columbinus , meaning "dove", a reference to the flowers' appearance of a group of doves. The genus name Aquilegia may come from the Latin word for "eagle", aquila , in reference to the petals' resemblance to eagle talons. [4] Aquilegia may also derive from aquam legere, which is Latin for "to collect water", or aquilegium , a Latin word for a container of water. [13]

The species is named for Chapline. [5] : 74  Common names for the species include Chaplin's columbine, Chaplin's yellow columbine, Chaplin's golden columbine, Chapline columbine, and Guadalupe Mountain columbine. [4] [11]

Distribution

The species is endemic to the Guadalupe Mountains of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico in the West South Central United States. [3] [14] [note 4] It is also native to the New Mexican Sacramento Mountains, [4] though this population of yellow columbines is distinct from others in the region In 1984, the Sacramento Mountains population was described as "somewhat intermediary between A. chaplinei and A. chrysantha" by the New Mexico Native Plant Advisory Committee. [15] The New Mexican range of A. chaplinei extends across the counties of Eddy and Otero. [16]

The Guadalupe Mountains are an extremely arid environment, and A. chaplinei is found where the ground is moist such as along streams, canyons, and at the base of rocks. [7] [5] : 74  The TPWD identifies the species's preferred habitats as "[p]erennially moist to wet limestone canyon walls; moist leaf litter and humus among boulders in wooded mesic canyons". [8]

The species can be found in Lincoln National Forest in south-central New Mexico. Within the Guadalupe District, the southernmost division of the national forest, A. chaplinei congregates in seeps at the bottom of limestone cliffs. [17] In McKittrick Canyon, the species blooms between early spring and mid-fall, with particular lushness in September. [14]

Aquilegia chaplinei - Flickr - aspidoscelis (1) (cropped).jpg
An Aquilegia chaplinei in the wild
Aquilegia chaplinei preserved.jpg
A preserved specimen from the Guadalupe Mountains

Conservation

A. chaplinei is considered a rare plant within its natural range. [4] [16] The Flora of North America lists the species as of conservation concern. [2] The University of New Mexico's Rare New Mexico Plants provides an assessment that A. chaplinei is "effectively conserved" and identifies human water management as a threat to the species. [16] The plant's NatureServe conservation status is S2 in both New Mexico and Texas and G2, meaning both the individual state and global populations of the species are considered "imperiled". [1]

The Bureau of Land Management categorizes the plant as a "sensitive" species. [16] As of 1998, A. chaplinei was conserved under the New Mexico Endangered Plant Species Act, legally prohibiting unauthorized seed collection. [18] By 2017, the plant was deemed "effectively conserved" by the New Mexico Rare Plant Conservation Strategy, a consortium of the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, Bureau of Land Management, and United States Forest Service. [19] The plant does not have a listed conservation status from the federal or Texas governments but was included in the TPWD's "Species of Greatest Conservation Need" as of 2024. [8]

Cultivation

In 1946, American botanist Philip A. Munz wrote that he was unaware of A. chaplinei being available for sale. [9] : 141 As of 2003, both seeds and plants were sometimes available, particularly from native plant nurseries in the region of A. chaplinei's native range. [5] : 74 

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center identified fully shaded or partially shaded locations as good locations for planting to prevent stressing the plant and curling in the leaves. A. chaplinei requires both moisture and drainage. In particularly hot and arid settings, the plant becomes susceptible to aphids and spider mites. Aquilegia species hybridize easily, so spacing between different species and varieties is necessary to prevent cross pollination. [4] Plants reach maturity in between two and five years. [20]

Uses

The Apache people considered the plant medicinal. Apaches utilized boiled roots as a remedy for bruises. In order to tone their bodies, they made a tea with the plant. The medicinal qualities of the plant's seed were considered especially significant and were further believed to be an aphrodisiac. [14] Ingestion of the plant may result in stomach irritation. [20]

Notes

  1. ↑ Other names for the flower include Chaplin's yellow columbine, Chaplin's golden columbine, Chapline columbine, and Guadalupe Mountain columbine. [4]
  2. ↑ Due to Payson's crediting of Standley, the author citation is rendered as "Standl. ex Payson". [3]
  3. ↑ Simultaneously, Lott also proposed reclassifying Aquilegia hinckleyana as another variant of A. chrysantha. [12] The author citation for Aquilegia chrysantha var. chaplinei is rendered as "(Standl. ex Payson) Lott". [3]
  4. ↑ The TPWD does not consider the species endemic. [8]

Related Research Articles

<i>Aquilegia</i> Genus of perennial plants (columbine)

Aquilegia is a genus of about 130 species of perennial plants that are found in meadows, woodlands, and at higher elevations throughout the Northern Hemisphere, known for the spurred petals of their flowers.

<i>Aquilegia formosa</i> Western North American species of columbine

Aquilegia formosa, the crimson columbine, western columbine, or (ambiguously) "red columbine", is a common wildflower native to western North America, from Alaska to Baja California, and eastward to Montana and Wyoming.

<i>Aquilegia canadensis</i> Common North American species of columbine

Aquilegia canadensis, the Canadian or Canada columbine, eastern red columbine, or wild columbine, is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. It is an herbaceous perennial native to woodland and rocky slopes in eastern North America, prized for its red and yellow flowers. It readily hybridizes with other species in the genus Aquilegia.

<i>Aquilegia coerulea</i> North American species of columbine

Aquilegia coerulea, the Colorado columbine, Rocky Mountain columbine, or blue columbine, is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native to the Rocky Mountains and some of the surrounding states of the western United States. It is the state flower of Colorado. The Latin specific name coerulea means "sky blue".

<i>Aquilegia chrysantha</i> North American species of columbine

Aquilegia chrysantha, the golden columbine, is a perennial herbaceous flowering plant native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. The plant, with a height of between 40 centimetres (16 in) and 120 centimetres (47 in), has yellow flowers. A. chrysantha. as with other members of the Aquilegia coerulea species complex, is evolved for pollination by hawkmoth. It favors moist environments in its mountainous range.

<i>Aquilegia brevistyla</i> North American species of columbine

Aquilegia brevistyla is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family known by the common name smallflower columbine. It is native to northern North America, where it has a disjunct distribution. Most of its range extends from Alaska through much of Canada, and it also occurs in a few areas in the contiguous United States, such as the Black Hills of South Dakota and central Montana. It is most common in eastern Alaska, Yukon, the southern Northwest Territories, and northern parts of Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan.

<i>Aquilegia longissima</i> North American species of columbine

Aquilegia longissima, the long-spur columbine or long-spurred columbine, is a rare perennial flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae that is native to northern Mexico, Texas, and Arizona.

<i>Aquilegia hinckleyana</i> Species of flowering plant

Aquilegia hinckleyana, or Hinckley's golden columbine, is a partially recognized species of flowering plant of the genus Aquilegia (columbines) in the family Ranunculaceae endemic to Capote Falls in northwestern Presidio County, Texas. The plant is found within a small region of the county and only grows in moister areas of its generally dry range. Considered a smaller version of Aquilegia chrysantha, A. hinckleyana has a height of around 60 centimetres (24 in) and possesses yellow flowers. It has seen modern cultivation, particularly in Texas. The species is named for L. C. Hinckley, who first collected the species in 1943.

Paraquilegia uniflora is a species of perennial flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae. Its range spans Tajikistan to the mountainous border between Afghanistan and northern Pakistan. It is a cushion plant with flowers that are blue or creamy white.

<i>Aquilegia alpina</i> Alpine European species of columbine

Aquilegia alpina, often called the alpine columbine or breath of God, is a perennial species of flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae, native to the western and central Alps. Though rare in its Swiss, Austrian, and Italian range, it is commonly found in the French Maritime Alps. A. alpina is appreciated for its light blue to blue-purple flowers.

Capote Falls is a waterfall on Capote Creek in the Sierra Vieja mountains in northwestern Presidio County, Texas, United States. At up to 175 feet (53 m) tall, it is the highest waterfall in Texas. Serving as a moist oasis in an otherwise barren area, the site is the only location where the columbine species Aquilegia hinckleyana is found in the wild. The waterfall has seen significant damage by erosion since 1964. Located on the privately owned Brite Ranch, access is restricted to those with permission from the property owners.

<i>Aquilegia parviflora</i> Species of flowering plant

Aquilegia parviflora is a species of flowering plant of the Aquilegia (columbine) genus in the family Ranunculaceae native to the Asian regions of Siberia, northern Mongolia, northern China, and Sakhalin.

<i>Aquilegia skinneri</i> Species of flowering plant

Aquilegia skinneri, commonly known as the Mexican columbine or Skinner's columbine, is a perennial flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae, native to Mexico and Guatemala.

<i>Aquilegia desolaticola</i> Utahan species of columbine

Aquilegia desolaticola, the desolation columbine or Desolation Canyon columbine, is a perennial species of flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae, endemic to Utah.

<i>Castilleja lineata</i> Species of plant in the paintbrush flower genus

Castilleja lineata, commonly known as marshmeadow paintbrush or linearlobe paintbrush, is an uncommon species that largely grows in the mountains of northern New Mexico, but is also found in small areas of neighboring Colorado and Arizona. It was not scientifically described until 1901 and is little studied.

<i>Aquilegia microcentra</i> Species of flowering plant

Aquilegia microcentra is a species of flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae native to Uruzgan Province in central and southeastern Afghanistan. The plant is understood as related to Aquilegia moorcroftiana, which has a range spanning into Afghanistan. A. microcentra has small, white flowers. The species was first described by the Flora Iranica in 1992 from specimens collected by Karl Heinz Rechinger in 1967.

<i>Aquilegia gracillima</i> Species of flowering plant

Aquilegia gracillima is a species of flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae native to the area near Ghazni in eastern Afghanistan. The plant is understood as related to Aquilegia moorcroftiana, which has a range spanning into Afghanistan.

<i>Aquilegia kubanica</i> Species of flowering plant

Aquilegia kubanica is a species of perennial flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae. It is narrow-locally endemic to the northwestern Caucasus in Russia. The plant grows to between 25 cm (9.8 in) and 45 cm (18 in) tall. Its flowers are bicolor, with tepals that are blue-violet.

<i>Paraquilegia caespitosa</i> Species of flowering plant

Paraquilegia caespitosa is a species of perennial flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae. It is native to a range spanning between northern Iran to the western Himalayas. The species has flowers that have purplish red to pink sepals and yellow petals.

<i>Paraquilegia microphylla</i> Species of flowering plant

Paraquilegia microphylla is a species of perennial flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae. It is native across a range spanning Siberia, Central Asia into the Himalayas, and east to Japan. The species has flowers that vary in color across its range, with P. microphylla in the western Himalayas possessing small white flowers while those in the eastern Himalayas produce larger lilac flowers.

References

  1. 1 2 "Aquilegia chapelinei". NatureServe Explorer. NatureServe. May 29, 2024. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Aquilegia chaplinei". Flora of North America . Vol. 3.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Aquilegia chapleini Standl. ex Payson". Plants of the World Online . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved December 2, 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Aquilegia chrysantha var. chaplinei". wildflower.org. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Archived from the original on June 13, 2024. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Nold, Robert (2003). Columbines: Aquilegia, Paraquilegia, and Semiaquilegia . Portland, OR: Timber Press. ISBN   0881925888 – via Internet Archive.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Payson, Edwin Blake (1918). "The North American Species of Aquilegia". Contributions from the United States National Herbarium . 20 (4): I–IX. JSTOR   23492230.
  7. 1 2 "Aquilegia chaplinei, Chaplin's columbine". Aquilegia Express: Yellow Columbines. United States Department of Agriculture. Archived from the original on December 4, 2024. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 "Species of Greatest Conservation Need". Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. January 31, 2024. Retrieved January 20, 2025.
  9. 1 2 3 Munz, Philip A. (March 25, 1946). Aquilegia: The Cultivated and Wild Columbines. Gentes Herbarum. Vol. VII. Ithaca, NY: The Bailey Hortorium of the New York State College of Agriculture at Cornell University – via Internet Archive.
  10. 1 2 "Aquilegia chaplinei Standl". Smithsonian Institution . Retrieved December 2, 2024.
  11. 1 2 Awards Committee Handbook (PDF) (13 ed.). Society for Range Management. June 2020. p. 14.
  12. 1 2 Lott, Emily J. (1985). "New combinations in Chihuahuan Desert Aquilegia (Ranunculaceae)". Phytologia . 58: 488.
  13. ↑ "Aquilegia confusa Rota". Portale alla flora del Monte Grappa (in Italian). University of Trieste. Archived from the original on December 10, 2024. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  14. 1 2 3 Allender, Michael; Tennant, Alan (1997) [1980]. "5". The Guadalupe Mountains of Texas . Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. p. 78. doi:10.7560/727205-007. ISBN   029270481X. LCCN   80-16821.
  15. ↑ New Mexico Native Plant Protection Advisory Committee (1984). A Handbook of Rare and Endemic Plants of New Mexico . Albuqueque NW: University of New Mexico Press. p. 240. ISBN   082630723X – via Internet Archive.
  16. 1 2 3 4 "Aquilegia chaplinei (Chapline's Columbine)". New Mexico Rare Plants. University of New Mexico. Archived from the original on July 13, 2024. Retrieved December 8, 2024.
  17. ↑ Mohlenbrock, Robert H. (2006). "National Forests In New Mexico". This Land: A Guide to Central National Forests . Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. p. 274–276. doi:10.1525/9780520930544-011. ISBN   9780520239821.
  18. ↑ Gallagher, Kelly (1998). "Chapter 15: Are Small Populations of Columbines More Vulnerable to Inbreeding Depression". In Armstrong, Fred R.; KellerLynn, Katie (eds.). The Guadalupe Mountains Symposium: Proceedings of the 25th anniversary conference on research and resource management in Guadalupe Mountains National Park. Guadalupe Mountains National Park, TX: National Park Service. p. 124.
  19. ↑ Roth, Daniela, ed. (2017). New Mexico Rare Plant Conservation Strategy (PDF). New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department - Forestry Division. p. 52.
  20. 1 2 "Aquilegia chaplinei (Chaplin's columbine)". shootgardening. Shoot Inc. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
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