Talk:Aquilegia formosa

Latest comment: 8 years ago by Wildbirdz in topic Common name

Common name edit

Crimson columbine? I consulted three websites (http://biology.burke.washington.edu/herbarium/imagecollection.php?ID=3672, http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=AQFO, http://eol.org/pages/594620/names/common_names) and four field guides. Most don't mention "crimson" and all prefer either "western" or "red". The article calls "red columbine" ambiguous. No doubt somewhere is another species commonly called (somewhere) red columbine, but that is precisely why we have scientific names, to avoid ambiguity. If someone invented "crimson columbine" just to eliminate ambiguity in scientific references, then it is an invalid common name. Wildbirdz (talk) 23:37, 15 June 2015 (UTC)Reply