Polemonium viscosum Nutt.
sky pilot (skunk Jacob's-ladder; skunk polemonium; sticky Jacob's-ladder; sticky polemonium)
Polemoniaceae (Phlox family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
sky pilot (skunk Jacob's-ladder; skunk polemonium; sticky Jacob's-ladder; sticky polemonium)
Polemoniaceae (Phlox family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Low, often dwarfed, perennial herb from a branched stem-base and stout taproot; plant densely glandular-hairy or stalked-glandular, strongly skunky-smelling; stems several, erect, 10-30 cm tall.
Leaves:
Mostly basal, up to 15 cm long including the short stalks, with expanded persistent papery bases; leaflets numerous, crowded, cleft almost to the base into 2 to 5 elliptic to spoon-shaped lobes and so appearing whorled, each segment 1.5-6 mm long, 1-3 mm wide.
Flowers:
Inflorescences dense head-like clusters of short-stalked, sweet-scented flowers; corollas blue-purple, funnel-shaped, 17-25 (30) mm long, the 5 rounded lobes shorter than the tube; calyces 7-12 mm long, with 5 lanceolate lobes; stamens shorter than to sometimes equal to the corolla.
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
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Polemonium viscosum
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) |
2361 | 2280 | 2562 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
49 | 26 | 82 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
162 | 95 | 277 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
2 | 2 | 2 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
B | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
6 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
AT | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
AT(5), ESSF(1) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Dry rocky ridges and slopes in the upper subalpine and alpine zones; infrequent in the Coast-Cascade Mountains S of 51degreeN, rare in extreme SE BC; E to SW AB and S to NM, NV and NE OR.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Polemonium confertum A. Gray
Polemonium viscosum subsp. genuinum Wherry
Polemonium viscosum subsp. lemmonii (Brand) Wherry