Aquilegia x miniana (J.F.Macbr. & Payson) Cronk, hybr. &, 2023

Cronk, Quentin C. B., 2023, The correct name for an Aquilegia (Ranunculaceae) hybrid of the parentage Aquilegia flavescens x A. formosa, PhytoKeys 220, pp. 31-38 : 31

Aquilegia x miniana (J.F.Macbr. & Payson) Cronk, hybr. & stat. nov.

A. flavescens var. miniana J.F.Macbr. & Payson, 1917, Contr. Gray Herb., 49: 61. Basionym.

Type material.

Holotype. Macbride and Payson 3326 (GH). A hybrid of the parentage: Aquilegia flavescens S.Watson × A. formosa Fisch. & DC., with intermediacy between the two parents.

Type locality.

In Payson (1918), further details are given of the type locality (Challis Creek) in relation to parental populations: “… Custer County, Idaho. There, near the town of Challis, at an altitude of 1620 meters, was found nearly typical A. formosa , while on the slopes of Parker Mountain, about 25 miles away and at an altitude of 2,400 to 2,700 metres, was found nearly typical A. flavescens . Intermediate forms were met along Challis Creek between these altitudes."

It is necessary to discuss an earlier name, Aquilegia rubicunda Tidestr. ( Tidestrom 1910), collected by Tidestrom in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah. This is also an Aquilegia with pink sepals. It has been considered a pink-flowered form of A. flavescens ( Welsh 1986) and, as such, might represent an earlier name for A. x miniana . However, the type specimen (US) bears no particular similarity to A. flavescens or its hybrid with A. formosa . Whittemore (1997) considered it to be A. micrantha . It might well repay further study, but we can rule out relevance to the hybrid considered here.