- This article is about the plant species, for the ancient city named Polemonium, see Side (Pontus).
| Polemonium | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Species | ||||||||||||
|
See text. |
Polemonium, commonly called Jacob's ladder, is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the family Polemoniaceae, native to cool temperate to arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and also in the southern Andes in South America. Many of the species grow at high altitudes in mountains. They are perennial plants (rarely annual plants) growing 10–120 cm tall with bright green leaves divided into lance-shaped leaflets, and produce blue (rarely white or pink) flowers in the spring and summer. Polemonium species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Coleophora polemoniella.
- Selected species
- Polemonium acutifolium Tall Jacob's Ladder
- Polemonium antarcticum
- Polemonium boreale Northern Jacob's Ladder
- Polemonium brandegeei Brandegee's Jacob's Ladder
- Polemonium caeruleum Charity
- Polemonium californicum Showy Jacob's Ladder
- Polemonium carneum Royal Jacob's Ladder
- Polemonium chartaceum Mason's Jacob's Ladder
- Polemonium chinense
- Polemonium confertum Rocky Mountain Jacob's Ladder
- Polemonium cuspidatum Stiff-point Jacob's Ladder
- Polemonium delicatum
- Polemonium elegans Elegant Jacob's Ladder
- Polemonium eximium Sky Pilot
- Polemonium foliosissimum Towering Jacob's Ladder
- Polemonium gayanum
- Polemonium longii Long's Jacob's Ladder
- Polemonium mexicanum
- Polemonium micranthum Annual Jacob's Ladder
- Polemonium nevadense Nevada Jacob's Ladder
- Polemonium occidentale Western Jacob's Ladder
- Polemonium pauciflorum Few-flower Jacob's Ladder
- Polemonium pectinatum Washington Jacob's Ladder
- Polemonium pulcherrimum Beautiful Jacob's Ladder
- Polemonium reptans Greek Valerian
- Polemonium sumushanense
- Polemonium vanbruntiae Van Brunt's Jacob's Ladder
- Polemonium viscosum Sticky Jacob's Ladder
- Polemonium yezoense
External links
- Flora of China: Polemonium
- Jepson Flora of California: Polemonium (click 'next taxon' to view individual species accounts)
