The petals have straight red nectar spurs measuring 3.5 to 5 cm (1.4 to 2.0 in).

[3] Aquilegia skinneri was first described in 1842 by William Jackson Hooker in Curtis's Botanical Magazine,[1] based on plants grown from seeds reported to have been collected in Guatemala by George Ure Skinner (1804–1867).

[5] In 1909, Joseph Nelson Rose described a new species, Aquilegia madrensis, based on samples collected in the Sierra Madre in Mexico, which were described as having similar morphology to Aquilegia skinneri.

However, it suggested that the labels were mixed up in England, and that Skinner's samples were actually collected in Chihuahua in northern Mexico rather than Guatemala.

[2] As of November 2024[update], the species has not been assessed for the IUCN Red List.