Any of approximately 70 species of perennial herbaceous plants constituting the genus Aquilegia , in the buttercup family, native to Europe and North America.
They are distinctive for their five-petaled flowers with long, backward-extending spurs. Sepals and petals are brightly coloured. A. caerulea and A. chysantha are native to the Rocky Mountains. The wild columbine of North America ( A. canadensis ), bearing red flowers with touches of yellow, grows in woods and on rocky ledges from southern Canada southward. Many garden hybrids are cultivated for their showy flowers.