Flora Meets Fauna Part 2 Aquilegia (Columbine)
Posted by John Friel on Nov 5th 2020
Flights of Fancy in the Backyard Zoo! Don’t look now, but critters have taken root in your garden. Relax, they’re friendly – and they’re animals in name only. Let’s meet one... heck, make it two – in one plant!Aquilegia: Bird of prey, or bird of peace? The genus name comes from the Latin for eagle (aquila), because the long petal spurs reminded Linnaeus of an eagle’s talons. But the common name, columbine, is from the Latin for dove (columba), because someone else thought the flower resembl