Polemonium acutiflorum Willd. ex Roem. & Schult.
tall Jacob's-ladder
Polemoniaceae (Phlox family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
tall Jacob's-ladder
Polemoniaceae (Phlox family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial herb from a rhizome; stems single, erect from a decumbent base, glandular-hairy especially above, 15-40 cm tall.
Leaves:
Alternate, mostly basal, pinnately compound, reduced upwards; leaflets 15 to 27, lanceolate to elliptic, pointed at the tip, 3-7 mm long, hairless or nearly so.
Flowers:
Inflorescences terminal or axillary, head-like or somewhat elongate, crowded clusters of short-stalked flowers; corollas blue or purple, rarely white, bell-shaped, 15-20 mm long, the 5 lobes twice as long as the tube; calyces 6-8 mm long, green to purple, the 5 teeth lanceolate; stamens slightly exserted beyond the corollas, not markedly surpassed by the styles.
Fruits:
Capsules, 3-chambered.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
USDA Species Characteristics
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Polemonium acutiflorum
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
1432 | 5 | 2440 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
16 | 0 | 75 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
290 | 0 | 360 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
4 | 1 | 8 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
C | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
335 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
SWB | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
AT(1), BAFA(83), BWBS(43), ESSF(38), MS(21), SBPS(3), SBS(3), SWB(118) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Wet to moist swamps, streambanks, meadows and thickets in the steppe to subalpine zones; common in N BC, less frequent southward to 52degreeN; amphiberingian, N to AK, YT and NT; Eurasia.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Polemonium caeruleum subsp. villosum (J.H. Rudolph ex Georgi) Brand