Aquilegia einseleana, or Einsele's columbine, is a perennial species of plant in the family Ranunculaceae, native to the eastern Alps.
Aquilegia einseleana grows to in height. It has 1âÂÂ3 (rarely up to 6) nodding blue-violet flowers of in diameter, with straight or slightly incurved spurs of around .
Aquilegia einseleana is most closely related to Aquilegia bertolonii, Bertoloni's columbine. The two species are estimated to have diverged from each other in the Pliocene around 1.23 million years ago, and form a sister clade to one containing the other European and some North and East Asian species of Aquilegia, from which they diverged approximately 2.5 million years ago.
The species was described by the German botanist Friedrich Wilhelm Schultz (1804âÂÂ1876) in 1848, and named after his friend Dr. (1803âÂÂ1870), a Bavarian physician and botanist.
Aquilegia einseleana is native to the central and eastern Alps of Slovenia, Bavaria in Germany, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lombardy, Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, and Veneto in Italy, and Austria. It grows in grassy and rocky limestone areas at altitudes of , in the montane to subalpine zones.
Aquilegia einseleana flowers from June to July and is pollinated by bumblebees.
The species has not been assessed for the IUCN Red List. In Switzerland, it is considered vulnerable in certain regions, and is fully protected in the Canton of Ticino.