columbine

Any of a group of plants belonging to the buttercup family. All are perennial herbs with divided leaves and hanging flower heads with spurred petals. (Genus Aquilegia, family Ranunculaceae.)

The wild columbine (Aquilegia vulgaris), with blue flowers, has been developed by repeated crossing to produce modern garden species (A. x hybrida), with larger flowers and a wider range of colours. The eastern columbine (A. canadensis), with red flowers, is native to eastern North America.

Columbine

Character in the harlequinade, the lover of Harlequin.

Columbine

Community in Jefferson and Arapahoe Counties, north-central Colorado, USA; population (1990) 24,000. It is a rapidly growing eastern suburb of Denver.

Columbine High School was the scene of a serious shooting incident on 20 April 1999, when 12 pupils and one teacher were murdered by pupils Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold who then committed suicide.