Aquilegia coerulea is a herbaceous plant with flowering stems that may be 15–80 centimeters (6–31 in) when fully grown.

The great blossoms, sometimes six inches in diameter, look like bits of fallen sky, and when the plants cover acres of meadow, as they sometimes do, no words can be found to do them justice.

"[9] The flowers are atop stems that stand perpendicular to the ground (erect) with the outer five sepals in shades of white to deep-blue or occasionally pink in their wild condition.

[4] The five petals have very long tapered spurs,[10] ranging from 25 to 72 millimeters in length, though usually longer than 34 mm.

[13] The center of the flower has a projecting cluster of numerous bright orange-yellow stamens, 50–130 total.

[14] Each of the pods is round in cross section and is filled with small, smooth, black seeds.

Aquilegia scopulorum has leaves that are covered in natural waxes making them blue-green (glaucous) rather than green.

Aquilegia jonesii has much shorter spurs on its flowers, just 8–15 mm and grows to the north in Wyoming, Montana, and Alberta.

James found the first specimen he collected in a thicket of scrub oak near what is today Palmer Lake, Colorado while on the Stephen H. Long Expedition of 1820.

[18] The autonymic variety of the species grows in Wyoming, New Mexico, and Colorado at elevations of 2,100–3,500 meters (6,900–11,500 ft).

They grow on rocky slopes, near streams, in open woodlands, and in herb dominated meadows.

The population continues to reproduce in and near the Reynolds Park open space in Jefferson County, Colorado.

[5] Though lacking parts to produce nectar the flowers are still pollinated by bumblebees, which collect pollen from the plants.

[34] It is commonly known as white Colorado columbine, despite the fact that it may have light blue or pink sepals.

The author Bill Casselman strongly asserts this to be incorrect and that the name derives from the Latin adjective "aquilegus" with the meaning "drawing water".

[6][16] However, the species is also called Rocky Mountain columbine for its wider natural range,[38] however this name is also infrequently applied to Aquilegia saximontana.

[42][40] In the Gosiute dialect of the Shoshoni language Aquilegia coerulea is called either pa'-wa-gúmp or pa'-o-gûm-pi as recorded by Ralph Vary Chamberlin.

[43] Colorado columbine is native to the Rocky Mountains from northern New Mexico to southern Montana.

[45] Though the geographic center of the range is in eastern Utah, the greatest number of plants is found in the mountains of north central Colorado.

They become more common at higher elevations in montane ecosystems and subalpine habitats with some growing above timberline in the alpine tundra.

[48] The western bumblebee (Bombus occidentalis) has been observed nectar robbing from Aquilegia coerulea by opening or using holes cut in the spurs.

[52] The wildflower authors Frank and John Craighead attributed a decline in the population of the species to overgrazing by sheep and cattle in 1963.

In 1925 the species was protected by law in Colorado, preventing needless destruction or waste of the flowers.

[53] In the 1890s there was also a group called the Columbine Association that sought to establish it as the national flower of the United States.

[38] The species was adopted as a garden plant very soon after its scientific description, with its introduction to the United Kingdom coming in 1864.

[55] It is also recommended as an attractive plant for revegitation of mountain roadsides in its native range by the Office of Natural Environment in the Federal Highway Administration.

[38] Plants in cultivation grow most successfully in average to medium garden soil that is well drained and even moisture.

[38] Colorado columbine is vulnerable to powdery mildews, particularly when its leaves are regularly wetted by overhead irrigation.

[5] Its natural variability and ease of hybridization with other columbines is exploited in the selection of numerous cultivars in different shades.