Polemonium pauciflorum S. Wats.
Family: Polemoniaceae
Few-Flower Jacob's-Ladder,  more...
Polemonium pauciflorum image
© Carlos Velazco  

PLANT: Perennial with 1-several leafy stems, 2-8 dm tall, glandular and sparsely to densely pilose.

LEAVES: 9-20 cm long, 1.5-6 cm wide, viscid; leaflets 11-25, lanceolate to narrowly ovate, 10-30 mm long, 5-10 mm wide.

INFLORESCENCE: open, branched.

FLOWERS: pedicels 15-40 mm long; calyx tube 8-10 mm long, the lobes attenuate, 8-18 mm long; corollas yellow, often tinged or streaked with red, funnelform to salverform, the tubes 20-35 mm long, the lobes ovate to obovate; anthers included in the throat to slightly exserted; style included to slightly exserted, usually exceeding the stamens.

CAPSULE: 8-15 mm long; seeds 11-20 per locule.

NOTES: Gravelly or rocky slopes, canyons, conifer and oak forests: Cochise Co. (Chiricahua Mts.); 1520-2720 m (5000-8900 ft); Jul-Sep. AZ to w TX and n Mex.

REFERENCES: Dieter H. Wilken and J. Mark Porter, 2005, Vascular Plants of Arizona: Polemoniaceae. CANOTIA 1: 1-37.

Wilken and Porter 2005, Kearney and Peebles 1969

Duration: Perennial

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Forb/Herb

General: Perennial with 1-several leafy stems, erect to decumbent, 20-80 cm tall, glandular and sparsely to densely pilose.

Leaves: Alternate, leaves 9-20 cm long, 1.5-6 cm wide, viscid,pinnately lobed to compound, leaflets sessile, entire, leaflets 11-25, lanceolate to narrowly ovate, 10-30 mm long, 5-10 mm wide.

Flowers: Terminal, open, branched, with actinomorphic flowers on pedicels 15-40 mm long, calyx tube 8-10 mm long, attenuate lobes, 8-18 mm long, corollas funnelform to salverform, yellow, often tinged or streaked with red, the tubes 20-35 mm long, lobes ovate to obovate, anthers included in the throat to slightly exserted, style included to slightly exserted.

Fruits: Globose to ovoid capsule 8-15 mm long, with 11-20 seeds per locule.

Ecology: Found in gravelly to rocky soils along streams from 5,000-9,000 ft (1524-2743 m); flowers July-September.

Notes: Distinguished from other Polemonium by the longer corolla tubes at 20-35 mm long, with the attenuate calyx lobes.

Ethnobotany: Unknown

Etymology: Polemonium comes from Greek, named for Greek herbalist and healer Polemon of Cappadocia, while pauciflorum means few flowered.

Synonyms: None

Editor: SBuckley, 2010

Polemonium pauciflorum image
© Carlos Velazco  
Polemonium pauciflorum image
© Carlos Velazco  
Polemonium pauciflorum image
© Carlos Velazco