Aquilegia einseleana, or Einsele's columbine, is a perennial species of plant in the family Ranunculaceae, native to the eastern Alps.
Description Aquilegia einseleana grows to in height. It has 1–3 (rarely up to 6) nodding blue-violet flowers of in diameter, with straight or slightly incurved spurs of around .
Taxonomy Aquilegia einseleana is most closely related to Aquilegia bertolonii, Bertoloni's columbine. The two species are estimated to have diverged from each other in the Pliocene around 1.23 million years ago, and form a sister clade to one containing the other European and some North and East Asian species of Aquilegia, from which they diverged approximately 2.5 million years ago.
Etymology The species was described by the German botanist Friedrich Wilhelm Schultz (1804–1876) in 1848, and named after his friend Dr. (1803–1870), a Bavarian physician and botanist.
Distribution and habitat Aquilegia einseleana is native to the central and eastern Alps of Slovenia, Bavaria in Germany, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lombardy, Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, and Veneto in Italy, and Austria. It grows in grassy and rocky limestone areas at altitudes of , in the montane to subalpine zones.
Ecology Aquilegia einseleana flowers from June to July and is pollinated by bumblebees.
Conservation The species has not been assessed for the IUCN Red List. In Switzerland, it is considered vulnerable in certain regions, and is fully protected in the Canton of Ticino.
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