This native wildflower is in bloom now
By Bob Confer,
If you are of a certain age, when you hear the world “columbine” unwelcome thoughts will come to your mind as you think back to the school shooting that took place in Colorado in 1999.
The city of Columbine got is name from blue columbine, which is Colorado’s state flower, a stunning blue and white wildflower of mountain forests and meadows. It’s unfortunate that flowers as beautiful as columbines have an irrevocable association with such an ugly event.
There are 20 species of columbines native to North America and 70 or so total that can be found around the world. Only one native can be found in Allegany County, wild columbine (also called red columbine), and it is in bloom right now.
To find it, look in rocky area of woodlots and forests. Your best bet to find it might be along one of the rocky streams so common in the county, or along a shaded gravel road that travels through the woods.
You can’t mistake it for any other flower. It has stunning color and structure — the red flowers, with yellow innards, are nodding and they have a unique shape with each of the five petals curling to a distinctive spur. It is believed the name columbine comes from the Latin word for dove (columba) as the shape of the petals hint at the silhouette of a dove.
The nectar of the columbine is found way back in the spurs of the flower, so it is frequented by creatures with long tongues or beaks such as larger moths and butterflies and hummingbirds. Those small birds find real value in the plant in the late-spring, as they can drink the sugary nectar before other popular plants open their petals.
It’s said that Native American men crushed the seeds and spread the powder on their wrists and hands as a love charm. Indigenous peoples also used the seeds a headache remedy.
This lovely flower – one of my favorites — began to bloom two weeks ago and will continue to be showy for another two weeks. If you see one stop, kneel, and closely admire its appearance. Columbines are attractive flowers that add color to the woods after the trees have leafed out and shaded the spring ephemerals that were in bloom just weeks earlier.
Bob Confer is a WNY naturalist who shares his knowledge in his Exploring the Western New York Wilds column. You can reach him anytime, Bob@ConferPlastics.com
