Scientific name: Aquilegia vulgaris L.
Common name: Columbine
Description
Habit: An almost hairless perennial, to 1 m high.
Stems: Erect, branched.
Leaves: Spirally arranged, stalked, without stipules, finely pinnately divided, the segments with rounded lobes; pale bluish green and hairy underside.
Flowers: Purple to white to pink, actinomorphic, hermaphrodite, 3-4.5 cm across, drooping, in cymes; sepals 5, petal-like, free, spreading, flat; petals 5, tubular, ending in a conspicuous hooked spur 1.5-2 cm long; stamens numerous, indefinite and free; ovary superior.
Fruits: A cluster of 5 follicles.
Habitat: Open scrub, stony grassland, roadsides.Distribution: Frequent NE of Galway, rare elsewhere.
Native status: Native
Of conservation interest: No