GREEK VALERIAN (Bluebells. Jacob's Ladder) 



Polemonium reptans L. 



April - May l)lui'l)clls. tho cliildicii called ihciiu ami pithercd 



Woods, roadsides liaiHlslul of the thin green stems with their racemes 



ol pale hliic liellllo\ver.s. Where the Virginia hluebell 

 did not grow, the cabin children of Illinois knew the flowers of Greek 

 valerian as bluebells, and took boiKiuets to their mothers and teachers. 



Greek valerian grows in a l»ushy, low plant in which many stems 

 spring np from a perennial rootstock. Each stem is hung with the round- 

 petaled, little sky-colored bells with their curled white stamens. They 

 la.st a long time in bloom, for they begin in late April and there still are 

 a few ])ale llowers when shade has come to the woodlands and late May 

 approaches June. 



The leaves of Greek valerian are com|H)und, with narrow, oval 

 leaflets of shiny daik green arranged nnich like fern leaves from the 

 base of the plant and along the llowcr stems. 



Greek valerian is a member ol the IMilox laniily. but has little of 

 the family resemblance. It is at its best in the rocky, hilly woods, there 

 where the leaf-mold is deep and cool, where moss beds are green and. in 

 the pleasant dewy dampness of dawn the snails move on slimy trails 

 across the leaves and moss. Lady bwtles which bad gathered in a crowd 

 of dozens beneath leaves near the valerian are out hunting early aphids, 

 and crawl up the valerian stems in search of food. 'I'hey are all part of 

 that picture of a jjarticular woodland the blue valerian bells, the insects, 

 the snails, tho pearls of nu)isture on the leavi'.s. the crisp moss, the song 

 of a veerv in tlie haw bushes. 



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