Aquilegia

Columbine, or Aquilegia, is in bloom right now. The white one below (most likely a cultivar of A. hybrida) is growing just near the courts at Tompkins Square Park.




Many columbines are native to the Rockies and other mountainous areas in the west. They grow best at high altitudes, but are very popular perennials elsewhere. They self-seed readily but are not invasive. A spring ephemeral, the foliage will die back in late June, when the weather gets quite hot.


I suspect part of the reason the plant is so popular in the nursery trade is due to the very showy, very unique flower structure. The petals form into nectar spurs. That alone may be hint enough that one of the pollinators of this plant is a moth -- moths have long proboscises to access the nectar. Native Americans would often use the flowers as an edible garnish, but other parts of the plant are highly toxic.

Aquilegia -- of which there are over sixty species -- is in the Ranunculaceae, or buttercup, famliy, and is a relative of the also-toxic Aconitum.

Foxglove

Below is a shot of foxglove, or Digitalis purpurea, at the NYBG.

Foxglove's an amazing, regal spring biennial. Biennials, unlike the more common perennials and annuals, need two seasons to complete its life cycle (another popular biennial is the common pansy).

If the name Digitalis sounds familiar, you may be thinking of the heart drug digitalis. Digitalis contains cardiac glycoside digitoxin, which is used to treat congestive heart failure -- it essentially makes the heart beat stronger and faster. However, if you have a bad ticker, don't go gnawing on the plant as-is. Foxglove is highly toxic when taken in anything other than the smallest of quantities, or in its basic form.

Digitalis obviously refers to one's digits, presumably because the individual blossoms would fit over one's finger easily enough. This also accounts for the less-common name, witch's bells, as witches wore these blossoms as little finger-gloves (I suspect the poisonous nature of this plant could have something to do with witches using it, too). Finally, it's not a long shot to guess that the common name foxglove refers to the blossoms easily fitting over a fox's paws as well.

Foxglove used to belong in the Scrophulariaceae (snapdragon or figwort) family, but has recently been moved to the Plantaginaceae (plantain) family. Most people with a lawn probably shudder at the word plantain, as Plantago a tenacious lawn weed. Similarly, in areas out west, foxglove is an invasive wildflower.

An aside: The plantain family does not include the tropical banana-like plantain, Musa. Musa, incidentally, is also the genus name for mouse. The fact that these plants share the common name plantain is a great example of how common names can get pretty confusing, pretty fast.

Giant Onion

Giant onion, or Allium giganteum, in the New York Botanical Garden:


If you're a regular reader, you don't need to be told that the large purple globe is actually a sum of many smaller flowers, all of which radiate from the same spot on the top of the stem.

Giant onion, as you can guess, is a bulb and it doesn't look much different from the onion bulbs you'd buy at a grocery store.

I can't get enough of this funky perennial en masse, along this path. It provides such a great contrast to the verdant, spring green of the lawn.

Here it is again, playfully popping out of a boxwood parterre:


Just. love. it. So fun.

Allium is the Latin name for garlic, and indeed, giant onion shares its genus with regular garlic, which is Allium sativum.

Fritillaria imperialis

Crown imperials (or Fritillaria imperialis) are a rare sight in Manhattan. This one was growing in Battery Park, blooming this week.


Fritillaries are such great, weird plants. They're bulbs, and I love that they have these pineapple-like crowns on top of the blossoms. Native to Turkey and the near east, these bulbs have been cultivated longer than most other flowers.


This species is Fritillaria imperialis, but the genus name (latin for 'dice box') refers to Fritillaria meleagris, or the checkered fritillary.