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Double-flowered columbines constitute a fascinating horticultural group, the result of centuries of selection and hybridization, with the first mentions dating back to the European Renaissance. The photograph perfectly illustrates this very particular floral type: a flower of bright and generous lilac-violet, in which the multiplication of floral parts creates a swirling mass of interlocking petals and sepals, giving the whole an almost crumpled and romantic appearance, halfway between a miniature peony and an old rose.
Morphologically, the floral duplication results from a transformation of the stamens and sometimes the carpels into petaloid parts, a phenomenon called pleiotaxy. In this case, the original structure of the flower is still partially readable, with well-developed sepals framing a dense central mass of transformed petals, while a few remaining stamens are visible at the heart of the flower, a sign of an incomplete double. The spurs, characteristic of simple columbines, are here totally absent or vestigial, their transformation into petals contributing to the fullness of the flower.
This frank and saturated lilac-violet coloration, very present in old horticultural selections, evokes the double forms derived from Aquilegia vulgaris , a European species that has historically provided the majority of traditional double cultivars, grouped under the name Aquilegia vulgaris var. stellata for the forms without spurs, or marketed under series names such as Barlow, Clementine or Tower. Easy to grow in ordinary well-drained soil, in partial shade or sun, these double forms self-seed spontaneously, with however a tendency to gradually revert to simple forms over generations.