Colorado Columbine

The Colorado Columbine, Aquilegia Caerulea, is a beautiful flower but I wish I had seen one in one of the more colorful hues; some flowers are entirely white but it come in blue, yellow, pink, and red. Flowers are large and elegant, consisting of five lance-shaped sepals - the parts more likely to be colored - behind five larger, rounded petals, which extend backwards into a long, thin spur. At the center are many white stamens topped by yellow anthers. Richer and more varied colors are much more common in cultivated varieties; the plant is a popular choice for ornamental gardens. Flowers grow singly or in small clusters, at the end of stalks that have a fine covering of hairs and large, lobed leaves around the base. Three other varieties are var coerulea, the most common form, which has deep blue sepals, and two with pale blue, pinkish or white sepals: var ochroleuca of Utah northwards and var pinetorum of south Utah and Arizona. These latter two are distinguished by the length of the spurs and stamens.

Both images taken on August 2, 2011, but the location has been lost. Below is a closer shot of a blooming flower.