Polemonium pulcherrimum
Polemoniaceae
Showy Polemonium
Tuft, erect to decumbent, distinctive skunky-smelling. Plant with soft hairs. Basal and stem leaves, the latter becoming abruptly smaller upward. Leaves pinnately divided into 9–21 widely oval to round leaflets. Inflorescence is a crowded cluster or head-like. Flower tube and lobes about same length, tube white, throat usually yellow, lobes blue to white. Grows in talus in subalpine and alpine zones, further north in dry rocky places, at mid to high elevations. Uncommon var. pilosum has hairy stems and leaves, white flowers with yellow throat. Var. pulcherrimum has glands and few hairs on stems and leaves, blue to purple flowers, white to yellow throat.
- Rarity: Uncommon
- Flowering Time: Mid Summer
- Flower Form: 5 petals, short trumpets (phlox famly)
- Life Cycle: Perennial
- Habitat: Alpine, East-side Forest, Subalpine
- Found In: Crater Lake NP, Mt. Rainier NP, N Cascades NP, Olympic NP, Steens, Wallowas
- Native: Yes
- Also Known As: Short Jacob's Ladder, Skunk-Leaved Polemonium
