PHLOX FAMILY 397 



L POLEMONIUM* [Tourn.] L. Sp. PI. 162. 1753. 



Erect spreading, decumbent or rhizomatous annuals or perennials Stems simple or 

 branched' Leaves pinnately divided, the leaflets entire to palmately 3-5-parted, narrowly 

 linear to rotund. Flowers in terminal or axillary cymes, solitary to capitately congested, 

 or in a sympodial raceme. Calyx herbaceous throughout, accrescent, campanulate, the 

 lobes deltoid to acuminate. Corolla rotate-campanulate to narrowly funnelform, with 

 no sharp distinction between tube and throat ; lobes spatulate to rotund, white, yellow, 

 pink, purple, or blue. Stamens equally inserted on the tube, the level of insertion varying 

 between some species, filaments of equal length, included or exserted. Pistil mcludedor 

 exserted. Capsule ovoid, each locule from 1-10-seeded, seeds sometimes becoming 

 mucilaginous when moistened. Embryo orthotropic. [Named for Polemon, a Greek 

 philosopher.] 



A genus of about 25 species, natives of the north temperate regions of both I'e^sP';"^^ *he /reatwt 

 diverVity occurring in the mountains of western North America; also the mountains of South America. Type 

 species, Potemonium coeruleum L. 



Annual; corolla equaling or shorter than the calyx; inflorescence racemose. 1. P- micranthum. 



Perennial; corolla exceeding the calyx; inflorescence cymose. 



Corolla-lobes equal to, or exceeding the tube, flowers in open cymes. 



Leaflets narrowly linear. 2. P. pectinatum. 



Leaflets elliptic to rotund. 



Plants over 3 dm. tall, erect to decumbent; stems greatly exceeding the lower stem-leaves. 

 Stems decumbent; corolla over IS mm. long; flowers yellow to purplish. 



3. r . Cdrneum. 



Stems erect; corolla less than 15 mm. long; flowers blue. 4. P . occidentale. 



Plants under 3 dm. tall, cespitose; stems equaling or at most twice the lower stem-leaves. 



Corolla-lobes twice the tube-length; calyx-lobes usually 1.5 times tube-length ; term.inal leaflets 



confluent. 5. P. cahforntcum 



Corolla-lobes subequaling the tube; calyx-lobes subequaling the tube; terminal leaflets discrete. 



o. ". pulcnerrtmunt. 



Corolla-lobes shorter than the tube; flowers in capitate, congested cymes. 

 Stamens shorter than the corolla. 



Leaflets entire, or occasionally slightly lobed. 7. P. elegans. 



Leaflets deeply 3-S-cleft, appearing verticellate. 



Calyx-segments rounded at the apex ; inflorescence a subcapitate head in fruit. _ 



8. r* cxttKturn. 



Calyx-segments sharply acute at apex; inflorescence a spicate raceme in fruit. 



•' e f J 9. P. vtscosutn. 



Stamens exceeding the corolla. 10. P- chartaceum. 



1. Polemonium micranthum Benth. Annual Polemonium. Fig. 3887. 



Polemonium micranthum Benth. in A. DC. Prod. 9: 318. 1845. 

 Polemoniella micrantha Heller, Muhlenbergia 1: 57. 1904. 



Annual, 3-25 cm. high, stems solitary to cespitose, slender, about twice the length of the 

 lower leaves, glabrate to pilose with glandular hairs. Leaflets 3-7 pairs, narrowly elliptical to 

 spatulate, 1-6 mm. long, 0.5-2 mm. wide, glandular-pubescent; inflorescence a sympodial 

 raceme, each flower produced terminally on a shoot bearing one leaf, and each succeeding 

 flower-shoot developing in turn from the axil of the uppermost leaf, the subtending leaves 

 similar to reduced foliage leaves in shape and pubescence ; flowers solitary to many ; pedicels to 

 13 mm. long, exceeding the calyx; calyx campanulate, 3-7 mm. long, the lobes comnionly 1 .i 

 times the length of the tube, the whole glandular-pubescent; corolla shorter than the calyx, 

 2-6 mm. long, broadly campanulate, with the rotund lobes equaling the tube, white; stamens 

 inserted half way up the tube, shorter than the corolla, filament-bases pubescent; ovary and 

 style together subequaling the corolla. 



Fields, plains, and hillsides, 2,000 to 5,000 feet altitude. Upper Soiioran and Arid Transition Zones; mainly 

 east of the Cascades, British Columbia to northeastern California (with an isolated station on Mount Finos, 

 southern California), east to Idaho and Utah. Type locality: Columbia River. Collected by Douglas. April-May. 



2. Polemonium pectinatum Greene. Washington Polemonium, Fig. 3888. 



Polemonium pectinatum Greene, Bull. Calif. Acad. 1: 10. 1884. 



Perennial, 3-7.5 dm. high, stems stout, terete, erect and clustered, glabrous Leaflets 5-10 

 pairs, linear-filiform, to 30 mm. long, glabrous; inflorescence a cyme, pedicels 4-10 mm. long, 

 subequaling the calyx; bracts foliaceous ; calyx narrowly campanulate, 4-10 mm. long, lobes 

 slightly exceeding the tube, glandular-pubescent ; corolla rotate-campanulate, to 20 mm. broad, 

 white to cream in color, the obovate lobes 3 times the length of the tube ; stamens inserted two- 

 thirds of the way up the tube, subequaling the corolla in length, pubescent at base ; ovary and 

 style subequaling the corolla. 



Known only from damp ground in the Rock Lake area, Whitman County, Washington. Type locality: 

 "eastern part of Washington Territory." May-June. 



Text contributed by John Eraser Davidson. 



