Polemonium pulcherrimum

Polemonium pulcherrimum
Secure
Secure (NatureServe)[2]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Embryophytes
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Polemoniaceae
Genus: Polemonium
Species:
P. pulcherrimum
Binomial name
Polemonium pulcherrimum
Subspecies and varieties[3]
  • P. p. var. delicatum
  • P. p. subsp. lindleyi
  • P. p. subsp. pulcherrimum
  • P. p. var. shastense
Synonyms[4]
List
    • Polemonium berryi Eastw.
    • Polemonium caeruleum var. pulcherrimum (Hook.) Hook.
    • Polemonium delicatum Rydb.
    • Polemonium delicatum f. coryphocola (Clem. ex Brand) Wherry
    • Polemonium delicatum subsp. scopulinum (Greene ex Rydb.) Wherry
    • Polemonium delicatum subsp. typicum Wherry
    • Polemonium fasciculatum Eastw.
    • Polemonium haydenii A.Heller
    • Polemonium haydenii f. orbiculare (Gand.) Wherry
    • Polemonium humile f. pulcherrimum (Hook.) Voss
    • Polemonium lindleyi Wherry
    • Polemonium montrosense A.Nelson
    • Polemonium orbiculare Gand.
    • Polemonium parviflorum Tolm.
    • Polemonium parvifolium Nutt. ex Rydb.
    • Polemonium pilosum (Greenm.) G.N.Jones
    • Polemonium pulcherrimum var. berryi (Eastw.) Brand
    • Polemonium pulcherrimum f. candidum B.Boivin
    • Polemonium pulcherrimum subsp. delicatum (Rydb.) Brand
    • Polemonium pulcherrimum var. haydenii (A.Heller) Brand
    • Polemonium pulcherrimum var. lindleyi (Wherry) J.P.Anderson
    • Polemonium pulcherrimum f. montrosense (A.Nelson) Wherry
    • Polemonium pulcherrimum subsp. parvifolium (Nutt. ex Rydb.) Brand
    • Polemonium pulcherrimum var. parvifolium (Nutt. ex Rydb.) A.Nelson
    • Polemonium pulcherrimum f. parvifolium (Nutt. ex Rydb.) Wherry
    • Polemonium pulcherrimum var. pilosum (Greenm.) Brand
    • Polemonium pulcherrimum subvar. shastense (Eastw.) Brand
    • Polemonium pulcherrimum f. tevisii (Eastw.) Brand
    • Polemonium rotatum Eastw.
    • Polemonium rotatum var. fasciculatum (Eastw.) Brand
    • Polemonium scopulinum Greene ex Rydb.
    • Polemonium shastense Eastw.
    • Polemonium shastense f. pilosum (Greenm.) Wherry
    • Polemonium tevisii Eastw.
    • Polemonium viscosum subsp. pilosum (Greenm.) Piper & Beattie
    • Polemonium viscosum var. pilosum Greenm.

Polemonium pulcherrimum is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by several common names, including beautiful Jacob's-ladder, showy Jacob's-ladder, and skunk-leaved polemonium. It is native to western North America from Alaska and Yukon to Arizona and New Mexico, where it can be found in many types of mountain habitat, including alpine talus and rock cracks at high elevations. It is a common and widespread wildflower in several regions. It is a perennial herb producing a clump of several erect stem approaching a maximum height of 30 centimeters. The leaves are mostly basal, with smaller ones arranged along the stem. The leaves are made up of several pairs of lance-shaped to oval or round leaflets. The herbage is lightly hairy, densely glandular, sticky, and strongly scented, the odor reminiscent of skunk. The showy inflorescence is a dense elongated or headlike cluster of bell-shaped flowers each just under a centimeter wide. The flower is deep to bright or pale blue to nearly white with a yellow throat.

Taxonomy

Polemonium pulcherrimum was scientifically described and named by William Jackson Hooker in 1830. However, Hooker revised his own classification in 1837, describing it as a variety of Polemonium caeruleum. Similarly, Andreas Voss classified it as a form of Polemonium humile in 1894, but it is an accepted species according to Plants of the World Online. It is classified in the genus Polemonium as part of the Polemoniaceae family. It has two accepted subspecies and two accepted varieties.[3]

  • Polemonium pulcherrimum var. delicatum – Native to Nevada, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming[5]
  • Polemonium pulcherrimum subsp. lindleyi – From Alaska to Idaho[6]
  • Polemonium pulcherrimum subsp. pulcherrimum – Northwestern North America and eastern Siberia[7]
  • Polemonium pulcherrimum var. shastense – Endemic to California[8]

Polemonium pulcherrimum has 36 synonyms of the species or its four subdivisions, including 14 species names.[4]

Table of Synonyms
Name Year Synonym of: Notes
Polemonium berryi Eastw. 1904 subsp. pulcherrimum = het.
Polemonium delicatum Rydb. 1901 var. delicatum ≡ hom.
Polemonium fasciculatum Eastw. 1904 subsp. lindleyi = het.
Polemonium haydenii A.Heller 1899 subsp. pulcherrimum = het.
Polemonium lindleyi Wherry 1942 subsp. lindleyi ≡ hom.
Polemonium montrosense A.Nelson 1905 subsp. pulcherrimum = het.
Polemonium orbiculare Gand. 1918 subsp. pulcherrimum = het.
Polemonium parviflorum Tolm. 1923 subsp. pulcherrimum = het.
Polemonium parvifolium Nutt. ex Rydb. 1897 subsp. pulcherrimum = het.
Polemonium pilosum (Greenm.) G.N.Jones 1936 subsp. pulcherrimum = het.
Polemonium rotatum Eastw. 1904 subsp. pulcherrimum = het.
Polemonium scopulinum Greene ex Rydb. 1906 var. delicatum = het.
Polemonium shastense Eastw. 1905 var. shastense ≡ hom.
Polemonium tevisii Eastw. 1904 subsp. pulcherrimum = het.
Notes: ≡ homotypic synonym; = heterotypic synonym

Names

The species name, pulcherrimum, means "beautiful" in Botanical Latin.[9] It is similarly known by the common name showy polemonium,[10] showy Jacob's-ladder,[11] and pretty Jacob's ladder.[9] It is also simply called Jacob's ladder, due to the oppositely attached leaflets suggesting the shape of a ladder.[12]

Range

Showy polemonium is native to the far eastern parts of Asia and to northwestern North America. In Asia it grows in Yakutiya (the Sakha Republic), Khabarovsk Krai, and Magadan Oblast in eastern Russia. In North America it is native to Alaska, the Yukon, and Northwest Territories in the far north. Further south in Canada it is found in British Columbia and Alberta. In the western United States it grows in both the southwest and northwest from the Pacific states to as far east as New Mexico and Montana.[3]

References

Citations

Sources

Web sources

  • Buchanan, Hayle (1979). Wildflower Communities of Bryce Canyon & Cedar Breaks (Second ed.). Bryce Canyon, Utah: Bryce Canyon Natural History Association. OCLC 7958845. Retrieved 13 August 2026.
  • Heil, Kenneth D.; O'Kane, Steve L. Jr.; Reeves, Linda Mary; Clifford, Arnold (2013). Flora of the Four Corners Region: Vascular Plants of the San Juan River Drainage, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah (First ed.). St. Louis, Missouri: Missouri Botanical Garden. ISBN 978-1-930723-84-9. ISSN 0161-1542. LCCN 2012949654. OCLC 859541992. Retrieved 13 August 2026.
  • Phillips, Wayne (2003). Plants of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (2003 ed.). Missoula, Montana: Mountain Press Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0-87842-477-1. OCLC 51330301. Retrieved 13 August 2026.
  • Wiese, Karen (2000). Sierra Nevada Wildflowers: A Field Guide to Common Wildflowers and Shrubs of the Sierra Nevada, including Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon National Parks. Helena, Mont: Falcon. ISBN 978-1-56044-981-2. OCLC 716475849. Retrieved 13 August 2026.

Web sources

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