White (alpine) columbine
Image copyright by Mark A. Chappell



Columbines all have more-or-less the same flower shape, but come in various colors from mainly white (as here) to yellow, blue, or deep red.   They usually are found in moist habitats and (at least in California) are most common along streams and in wet meadows.   This is the alpine columbine (Aquilegia pubescens), which occurs at high alitutdes.   I took the photo above treeline at Saddleback Lake in the eastern Sierra, where large clumps of these plants were growing in talus slopes.

  • digital capture, Canon 1D Mk. II, Canon 100 mm macro, fill-in flash (2007)