Information provided by

http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=AQCA2

Aquilegia caerulea James
Colorado blue columbine, Rocky Mountain columbine
Ranunculaceae (Buttercup Family)
Synonyms: Aquilegia coerulea
USDA Symbol: AQCA2
USDA Native Status: Native to U.S.

The large, upright, blue and white flowers of this popular wildflower are long-spurred and rise above deeply cut, light-green foliage. This short-lived perennial grows 1-2 ft. tall.

Colorados state flower. Popular in cultivation, with several color phases and doubled flowers. Hybridization with other species has produced further cultivated variants. Phases in the wild with pale or white sepals are frequent. A species with blue sepals and white petal tips, but only 2-8 (5-20 cm) tall, is Alpine Blue Columbine (A. saximontana), whose blue spurs are hooked at the tip; it grows high in the Colorado mountains.

The genus name Aquilegia comes from the Latin aquila which means eagle and refers to the spurred petals that many believe resemble an eagles talons.