Tag Archives: purple

I cannot let July get too far along without mentioning Colorado’s state flower, the Colorado blue or Rocky Mountain columbine, Aquilegia caerulea.  This beautiful purple and white flower that–surprising to me–is in the buttercup family, thrives in a variety of habitats at a range of mountain elevations in the central Rockies. 

I often think of it as a flower of the alpine trails that lead up peaks (such as Medicine Bow Peak here in Wyoming), where it shelters in moist, rocky areas, but I also come across it in montane, forested regions as well, near rushing snowmelt streams.

This flower generally blooms from June through August, but with the early, dry spring this year, I expect it will be gone in most places before the end of July.

The purple sepals and long purple spurs are the most recognizable parts of this bloom, but the delicate white petals are a beautiful counterpoint.  It is, despite (or because) of its beauty, poisonous.

Sky pilot, Polemonium viscosium, is a showy purple bloom of high elevations.  This plant is so closely associated with the highest mountaintops that early American mountain climbers used to only earn the privilege of wearing a sprig in their hat once they had climbed above 13,000 feet.

The blue-purple blooms are beautiful, but occasionally you can find a dazzling white form, too.

Sky pilot is a perfect name for this high-altitude-loving wildflower. Other common names for this particular species are sticky polemonium, sticky Jacob’s ladder, or skunkweed.  As the last name suggests, this plant has a certain funk to it when disturbed.

Sky pilot may be pretty in itself, but it is best appreciated in combinations with its often spectacular surroundings.