This horticultural group brings together cultivars of columbines with flowers lacking spurs, a characteristic that gives them their name in reference to the clematis flowers they evoke. This peculiarity, resulting from a mutation removing the usual nectariferous spurs of the genus, gives the flowers an open, spread and cup-shaped silhouette, radically different from the classic morphology of columbines, and pleasantly surprises those who know the genus only in its usual form.
As evidenced by the photograph, the flowers here feature large spread sepals and slightly crumpled rounded petals, in a tender and delicate pink, slightly more pronounced on the sepals and paler at the heart, creating a subtle gradient. The golden stamens, clearly visible at the center of the open flower, add a luminous note to the ensemble. The floral stems, in a dark almost purplish red, elegantly contrast with the pink of the flowers and the green of the foliage.
The general habit remains that of a classic columbine, reaching 50 to 70 cm, with finely divided biternate foliage. The spring blooming, from May to June, is abundant and particularly suitable for cutting. The growing conditions are identical to those of other garden columbines: well-drained soil, moderately fertile, in a sunny to semi-shaded exposure, with good hardiness.