Aquilegia maimanica
{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Aquilegia maimanica holotype.png
| image_caption = Holotype of Aquilegia maimanica
| genus = Aquilegia
| species = maimanica
| authority = Rech. fil. In: Fl. Iranica
}}
Aquilegia maimanica is a species of flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae native to the area of the former Meymaneh Province in northwestern Afghanistan. The plant is understood as related to Aquilegia moorcroftiana, which has a range spanning into Afghanistan. A. maimanica has pale-blue and white flowers. The species was first described by the Flora Iranica in 1992 from specimens collected by Karl Heinz Rechinger in 1959.
Description
Aquilegia maimanica is a perennial plant that favors temperate biomes. The plant grows with branching stems reaching heights between {{convert|40|cm|in}} and {{convert|60|cm|in}} tall. The stems feature many cauline leaves. The plant's flowers are suberect with pale-blue sepals and nectar spurs and white blades. The sepals are around {{convert|20|mm|in}} long and the narrow, slightly curved spurs extend between {{convert|20|mm|in}} and {{convert|25|mm|in}} long.{{cite book|title=Columbines: Aquilegia, Paraquilegia, and Semiaquilegia|first=Robert|last=Nold|publisher=Timber Press|date=2003|location=Portland, OR|isbn=0881925888}}{{rp|104}}
Taxonomy
Aquilegia maimanica was first described by Karl Heinz Rechinger in 1992 within the Flora Iranica.{{cite POWO |id=971084-1 |title=Aquilegia maimanica Fl. Iranica |access-date=December 23, 2024 }} The plant was described from two type specimens.{{rp|104}} The holotype was collected by Austrian botanist Rechinger on May 23, 1959, in Afghanistan and is held in the herbarium of the Natural History Museum, Vienna. The type locality is near Bilchiragh and it is listed as having been collected in a valley.{{cite web|url=https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/1230490872|title=Occurrence 1230490872 23 May 1959|publisher=Global Biodiversity Information Facility|website=gbif.org|access-date=December 23, 2024}} An isotype is held by the University of Graz's Institute of Plant Sciences.{{cite web|url=https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/1657161666|title=Occurrence 1657161666 23 May 1959|publisher=Global Biodiversity Information Facility|website=gbif.org|access-date=December 23, 2024}}
In the descriptions provided by Flora Iranica, A. maimanica was one of three species of Aquilegia described as "species nova ex affinitate remota Aquilegia moorcroftiana",{{rp|103}} with the other two being Aquilegia gracillima and Aquilegia microcentra. American botanist Robert Nold wrote in 2003 that political circumstances meant that the species were likely relegated to being "nothing but names for years to come" and felt that further specimens were necessary to thoroughly confirm if the plants are distinct species related to, or variants of, A. moorcroftiana. When describing the species, Nold listed them under his listing of A. moorcroftiana, "hoping, somehow, that A. moorcroftiana is even more polymorphic than anyone suspects" and that A. maimanica was a localized variant.{{rp|103–104}}
=Etymology=
The word "columbine" derives from the Latin word columbinus, meaning "dove", a reference to the flowers' appearance of a group of doves. The genus name Aquilegia may come from the Latin word for "eagle", aquila, in reference to the pedals' resemblance to eagle talons.{{cite web|url=https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=aqchh|title=Aquilegia chrysantha var. hinckleyana|website=wildflower.org|publisher=Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center|access-date=December 23, 2024}} Aquilegia may also derive from {{lang|la|aquam legere}}, which is Latin for "to collect water", or aquilegium, a Latin word for a container of water.{{cite web|url=https://dryades.units.it/Grappa/index.php?procedure=taxon_page&id=10000042&num=30877|title=Aquilegia confusa Rota|work=Portale alla flora del Monte Grappa|publisher=University of Trieste|access-date=December 23, 2024|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20241210035437/https://dryades.units.it/Grappa/index.php?procedure=taxon_page&id=10000042&num=30877|archive-date=December 10, 2024|url-status=live|lang=it}} Maimanica refers to the region of origin, the former Meymaneh (Maimana) Province.{{rp|104}}
Distribution
Aquilegia maimanica is native to the area of the former Meymaneh Province in northwestern Afghanistan.{{rp|104}}
Conservation
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew's Plants of the World Online predicted the extinction risk level for A. maimanica as "threatened" with a low confidence level.
References
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{{Portal bar|Afghanistan|Biology|Plants}}