Red Columbine

Buttercup Family (Ranunculaceae). Red columbine is a perennial herb that has short-lived fibrous roots and a vertical underground stem (caudex). It is 30-80 cm (12-30 in) tall, growing from the caudex. Compound leaves are distinctly divided into obovate leaflets. The flower is downward facing, with all petals prolonged backward into a tubular spur. Sepals are petal-like and typically red. Petals are yellow and become redder at the tip of the spur. Plant growth begins in early spring. This plant blooms from March to July and sets fruit in mid to late summer (June to August). Aboveground portions of Red columbine die back to the caudex in mid to late autumn. Red columbine is pollinated by hummingbirds, which may depend on the plant as an important nectar source. In addition, at least four bee species have been found to be effective pollinators of red columbine in southeastern Wisconsin and northwards.
Habitat: Red columbine is found in dry to mesic or even low woods, especially along borders or clearings of oak-hickory, oak-maple and maple-basswood forests, black-oak savannas, cedar glades, pine woods, and mixed conifer hardwood forests. It can also be found on wooded to open rocky hillsides, bluffs, calcareous cliffs, outcrops, ledges, banks, beach ridges, gravelly shorelines, roadsides, quarries, and peat bogs.
Red columbine is endangered in Florida.
(http://www.gardenguides.com)

Photographed in Homer, AK,