# Aquilegia aurea

Aquilegia aurea is a perennial flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae native to Bulgaria and small areas of North Macedonia and Greece.

## Description

Aquilegia aurea grows to 10–100 cm (4–39 in) with smooth or lightly hairy stems and large, nodding, light yellow or greenish-yellow flowers with a hooked nectar spur and protruding stamens. It forms a large underground mass to maintain stability among the loose rocks and scree of its environment.

## Taxonomy

Aquilegia aurea belongs to a clade containing most of the European columbine species, which appear to have diverged from their closest relatives in Asia in the early Pleistocene, a little over 2 million years ago.

### Etymology

The specific epithet aurea means "golden" in Latin, referring to the colour of the flowers.

## Distribution and habitat

Aquilegia aurea is native to mountainous regions of western and southwestern Bulgaria, in Vitosha, Rila, Pirin and the western Rhodope Mountains, as well as the Belasica mountains (also known as Kerkini in Greece) in southeastern North Macedonia and northeastern Greece. It grows in rocky alpine meadows at altitudes of 1,800–2,300 m (5,900–7,500 ft).

## Ecology

Aquilegia aurea blooms in June and July. It is one of the diagnostic species for the high-altitude Aquilegio aureae-Doronicetum columnae plant community that occurs in almost all of the main Bulgarian mountain ranges. The leaf miner Phytomyza minuscula is known to attack the leaves, along with the fungus Erysiphe aquilegiae var. aquilegiae, which causes powdery mildew, and the smut fungus Urocystis aquilegiae, which creates pustules on the leaves.

## Conservation

As of November 2024, the species has not been assessed for the IUCN Red List.

## Citations

* 1 2 3 4 "Aquilegia aurea Janka". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
* 1 2 3 Bokos, Panagiotis I. (2014). Συγκριτικη Μελετη Τησ Χλωριδασ Και Τησ Χημικησ Συστασησ Τησ Βοσκησιμησ Υλησ Των Υπαλπικων Λιβαδιων Των Βουνων "κερκινη" Και "τζενα" Με Διαφορετικο Γεωλογικο ποβαθρο [Comparative Study of Chlorida and its Chemical Composition of Grazing Material of the Alpine Meadows of the Mountains "Kerkini" and "Jena" with a Different Geological Background] (PDF) (PhD thesis). Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
* 1 2 3 "К. Stoyanov, Tsv. Raycheva, I. Cheshmedzhiev, Checklist of Native and Invasive Plants of Bulgaria. Aquilegia aurea". Academic Press of Agricultural University of Plovdiv. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
* ↑ Janka, V. (1872). "Plantarum novarum turcicarum breviarum". Österreichische botanische Zeitschrift. 22 (6): 174.
* 1 2 Szokala, Daniel; Kočí, Martin; Vassilev, Kiril (2024). "Subalpine tall-herb vegetation in Bulgaria: diversity and ecology". Plant Biosystems. 158 (3): 490–510. Bibcode:2024PBios.158..490S. doi:10.1080/11263504.2024.2327865.
* ↑ Fior, Simone; Li, Mingai; Oxelman, Bengt; Viola, Roberto; Hodges, Scott A.; Ometto, Lino; Varotto, Claudio (2013). "Spatiotemporal reconstruction of the Aquilegia rapid radiation through next-generation sequencing of rapidly evolving cpDNA regions". New Phytologist. 198 (2): 579–592. Bibcode:2013NewPh.198..579F. doi:10.1111/nph.12163. PMID 23379348.
* ↑ Gledhill, David (2006). The names of plants (4th. ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521866456. Retrieved 3 January 2025.
* ↑ Ellis, W. N. (2025). "Aquilegia alpina". Plant Parasites of Europe. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
* ↑ "Aquilegia - genus". IUCN Red List. 2024. Retrieved 17 November 2024.