Aquilegia saximontana

[TheOnionMan]

Moving on, I will gather up some nice photos I found of A. laramiensis and post those links here, a species that could be legitimately confused with saximontana, except for flower color and more subtle differences.

[Maggi Young]

Aquilegia laramiensis is very little grown  in UK gardens, as far as I can tell.... I'm sure many would like to have some links to pictures of this delicate ivory beauty, McMark


 I'll give you a start....http://www.kadel.cz/flora/Images/WebSize/220.jpg

http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/projects/scp/assessments/aquilegialaramiensis.pdf

[Great Moravian]

In A. laramiensis the flowers are hanging, small, whitish, and spurs are approximately parallel.

[TheOnionMan]

Maggi, you grabbed the first two A. laramiensis links I had on my list.  Still gathering, but getting late here and I'm tired. 

So for tonight, with fair use I scanned and posted a photo I had forgotten about, Aquilegia saximontana in Rare Plants of Colorado, Second Edition, 1997, The Colorado Native Plant Society.  It's a good characteristic image, showing the divergent spurs.

Also with fair use, I scanned and posted a drawing of Aquilegia saximontana from Land Above the Trees, A Guide to American Alpine Tundra, by Anne Zwinger and Beatrice Willard, 1972.  I still consider this one of the very best books on alpine plant habitats, the pages filled with charming pencil drawings that capture the essence of the subject plant, often showing the flowers and plant in various stages of articulation.  Here again we see acute sepals, narrowish cup, and divergent spurs.

The 3rd and last fair use scan is Aquilegia saximontana from Rocky Mountain Alpines, part of Alpines '86, Second Interim International Rock Garden Conference, June 28 to July 2, 1986; Boulder, Colorado.  Sorry, the scan is a bit pixelated, but the image was rather small, but you can still see the unique shape of the flower and spurs.

[Great Moravian]

http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/beauty/columbines/aquilegia_laramiensis.shtml
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/152108/
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?stat=BROWSE&query_src=photos_flora_sci&where-genre=Plant&where-taxon=Aquilegia+laramiensis&title_tag=Aquilegia+laramiensis

[Great Moravian]

In my opinion, the identity of A. laramiensis and A. saximontana was sufficiently clarified.
The former is not a showy species, the latter is prone to hybridization. I suggest to
discuss the identity of two showy and non-hybridizing species, namely
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=6126.0;attach=248784;image
and
http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/main/153947/199815274
The two are in my cultivation since 1975.
The former is distributed as A. bertolonii, A. pyrenaica or A. jonesii x saximontana,
the latter usually as A. discolor.
Surprisingly, the two don't cross despite of their belonging to one species if the former is
A. pyrenaica subsp. pyrenaica and the latter A. pyrenaica subsp. discolor.

[Graeme Strachan]

Does anyone know what I really have? I posted this in april 2009.
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3329.msg89842#msg89842

         regards

            Graeme Strachan

[Great Moravian]

Does anyone know whay I really have? I posted this in april 2009.
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3329.msg89842#msg89842

A Japanese cultivar of Aquilegia flabellata var. pumila in my guess.

[TheOnionMan]

Does anyone know whay I really have? I posted this in april 2009.
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3329.msg89842#msg89842

A Japanese cultivar of Aquilegia flabellata var. pumila in my guess.

Moravian, I just tried posting and it said another message was already posted... great minds think alike

Graeme, I second the opinion above, it looks like a cute little A. flabellata var. pumila (or hybrid of it).  Looking around the web, I have found many lovely desirable forms of A. flabellata var. pumila, here's a particularly attractive one.
http://www.aquabiom.sk/images/katalog/1196715239_1_big.jpg?rand=33856806

[Great Moravian]

In reality, we are disgusting people who are happy apparent growers of presumed botanical rarities. I wonder whether anybody got happier after determination of her-his treasure. Replacing of rarities using either hybrids or other easily cultivable plants is a common procedure making living easier.

[Diane Clement]

In my opinion, the identity of A. laramiensis and A. saximontana was sufficiently clarified.
The former is not a showy species, the latter is prone to hybridization.

But is it "prone to hybridisation"?  Has anyone ever grown or even seen the fabled A jonesii x saximontana (and it wasn't A flabellata or similar).  I'm not sure it exists.

[Graeme Strachan]

Moravian/Onion Man - Thank you for identifying my plant. I am happy that more knowledgeable people have put me right rather than living in ignorance and expounding the problem when I give away its offspring. 

        regards

             Graeme Strachan

[maggiepie]

But is it "prone to hybridisation"?  Has anyone ever grown or even seen the fabled A jonesii x saximontana (and it wasn't A flabellata or similar).  I'm not sure it exists.

Am wondering if anyone would recognize it if it does exist.

[TheOnionMan]

Moravian/Onion Man - Thank you for identifying my plant. I am happy that more knowledgeable people have put me right rather than living in ignorance and expounding the problem when I give away its offspring. 

        regards

             Graeme Strachan

Excellent Graeme, my inspiration for this thread is to provide enough information and verifiable images on the universally misidentified Aquilegia saximontana, to help lessen perpetual redistribution of plants under the wrong name.  Moravian has been most helpful in this effort too, and as well, has shed some light on other often-misidentified species too, that species like A. bertolonii, pyrenaica, discolor, are also mired in confusion, an unfortunate state of Aquilegia for decades. But the focus here is on A. saximontana, it's closest ally A. laramiensis, and the species that most often usurps the good name of saximontana; namely A. flabellata and its forms.

I see that you had no reply to your earlier posting on your Aquilegia ID.  Just after your post, there was another post with an image of Aquilegia akitensis (synonym of A. flabellata).  One thing we haven't discussed here yet, is some of the foliar differences between saximontana and flabellata, but I believe A. flabellata helps reveal itself by its foliar characteristics as well.

[Olga Bondareva]

I am disappointed by this topic. I understand many of my aquilegias are under wrong names.

This one came like A. saximontana


This one like A. bertolonii


This - A. discolor


A. flabellata v. pumilio


And A. flabellata v. pumilio Rosea


But now I can not say they are truly recognized.