truncata is a perennial herbaceous plant growing 50–100 cm (20–39 in) high, with well-developed, light-green stem leaves.

[5] The flowers have erect, scarlet nectar spurs measuring 0.75 in (19 mm) in length.

It was reassessed as a variety truncata of Aquilegia formosa by John Gilbert Baker in 1844, which is now the generally accepted placement of the taxon.

Enrollees from one of Yosemite's California Conservation Corps camps collected numerous seeds of native fauna, including the red columbine, and planted them along Wawona Road in efforts to stabilize slopes.

They used a new method where small trenches were dug laterally along the slopes, seeded, and then filled with duff and topsoil.