Al Schneider's Rocky Mountains Plant Descriptions

Towering Jacob's-ladder
Polemonium foliosissimum
Phlox family (Polemoniaceae)

Leafy Jacob's Ladder (Polemonium foliosissimum) is easy to spot and identify because of its growth patterns: it is often in dense to loosely scattered colonies in open mountain ; it grows tall (commonly two to three feet) in an open, airy manner; and its leaves are finely cut. Its abundance of softly lavender/blue/purple/violet flowers are borne in numerous, showy clusters. Altogether, Polemonium foliosissimum is very softly appealing. See Sky Pilot (Polemonium viscosum) and Pretty Jacob's Ladder (Polemonium pulcherrimum). Charles Parry first found this plant for science in Colorado and it was named by Asa Gray in 1878. "Foliosissimum" is Greek for "very leafy."


©2010 Jerry Oldenettel

Description

Robust plant with stems 2 1/2 to 4' tall, erect, simple or terminally branched, to very hairy, often . Leaves to 6" long with 5-25 , to from 1/3 to 2" long and up to 1/2" wide, the the largest. in and clusters. Flowers to short , compact clustered. to 1/3" long, shorter than the tube to much longer. to over 2/3" long and as wide, blue violet (sometimes white or cream), open bell-shaped. almost equal in length to the . a .

Field Marks

Tall leafy plant with many clusters of blue violet flowers in open bell form.

© Al Schneider

stamen -- the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower; The stamen consists of an anther supported by a filament.

Axillary bud growing from the armpit of the plant.

meadow -- Large grass and wildflower filled area with few, if any, trees.

pedicel -- The stem of a single flower.

lobe -- A rounded parts of a leaf (or other organ).

A herb is a plant whose stems die back to the ground in the winter.

corolla -- The name for all the petals of a flower taken together.

capsule -- a type of simple, dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. In most cases the capsule splits apart to release seeds.

sessile -- attached without a stalk. For example, a leaf that clasps the stalk. A petiolate leaf has a stalk.

terminal -- Located at the end (the tip or the apex).

Glands are plant structures that secrete liquids, salts or other substances. Glands often appear as hairs with a drop of liquid at the end.

calyx -- the sepals of a flower, typically forming a whorl that encloses the petals and forms a protective layer around a flower in bud.

fruit -- any seed-bearing structure in flowering plants. It is formed from the ovary after flowering.

lanceolate -- Lance-shaped. Long, wider in the middle.

elliptic -- Oval, with no point or a very short point.

An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem.

glabrous -- smooth, glossy, having no bristles or hair-like structures. Bald.

leaflets -- Each little leaf-like thing in a compound leaf is a leaflet.

A perennial plant lives and blooms for many years.