Tall bluebells, a rather robust, leafy perennial herb of the borage 

 family (Boraginaceae), is one of the most important forage weeds 

 in the Intermountain region. It has a limited range, occurring 

 mainly in Utah, although also found to some extent in Idaho and 

 Nevada. This plant grows characteristically in the cooler moun- 

 tains at elevations of from 6,000 to 11,000 feet, in rather large 

 clumps in scattered stands with such other herbaceous plants as 

 geranium, yarrow, and bromegrasses. It is abundant on fairly moist 

 or well-drained soils in aspen stands, but also appears in partial 

 shade along streams and in canyon bottoms from the ponderosa 

 pine to the Engelmann spruce belt. The type specimen of this blue- 

 bells was collected in Mill Creek Canyon, Utah, by F. E. Leonard 

 in 1884, and was named in his honor by the late Dr. Kydberg in 

 1909. 



Individual plants produce an abundance of succulent forage and 

 have a palatability of from good to very good for sheep and goats 

 and fairly good for cattle. Deer and elk also relish this species. 

 Tall bluebells is eaten readily throughout the growing season, as 

 the herbage remains green and succulent until killed by frost. Sheep 

 consume the entire plant, but cattle usually eat only the flowers 

 and leaves. On many of the mountain ranges in Utah this forage 

 is one of the choice feeds for fattening lambs. 



The large bunches of tall bluebells, crowned with clusters of 

 bright blue, bell-shaped flowers, add a distinctive beauty to the 

 mountain flora. Tall bluebells is very similar to mountain bluebells 

 (M. ciliata) and, since the two plants are separated on the basis of 

 rather slight botanical differences, they are difficult to distinguish 

 in the field. However, the calyx lobes of mountain bluebells are 

 blunt-tipped (obtuse), of a narrow (linear) type, and only about 

 2 mm. (^ inch) long, whereas those of tall bluebells are broader 

 (lanceolate), sharp-tipped, and about 4 mm. (y G inch) long. The 

 united petals (corollas) of tall bluebells tend to be somewhat larger 

 and longer than those of mountain bluebells. 



In 1913 Tidestrom, at that time unaware of the existence of the 

 earlier M. leonardi Rydb., published a high-range, Wasatch Moun- 

 tain species of this genus under the name of. sampsonii, in honor of 

 its collector, Dr. A. W. Sampson. Somewhat later, in 1925 x Tide- 

 strom believed that M. sampsonii was perhaps only a form of M. 

 leonardi, though keying it out from leonardi on its smaller flowers 

 (about one-half of an inch long) and rather more deeply cleft calyx. 

 However, field studies of the Forest Service have demonstrated that 

 it is impossible to separate leonardi and sampsonii on the range, and 

 Tidestrom in more recent identification work for the Forest Service 

 has remanded sampsonii to synonymy. Sampson 2 states that this 

 form, Sampson bluebells, begins growth early in the season and 

 remains green until killing frosts, so that there is a long period of 

 palatability ; he further states that many Utah sheep growers depend 

 largely on the plant to fatten their lambs for market, reserving 

 bluebells areas for the finishing period. 



1 Tidestrom, I. FLORA OP UTAH AND NEVADA. U. S. Natl. Mus., Contrib. U. S. Natl. 

 Herbarium 25, 665 pp., illus. 1925. 



2 Sampson, A. W. NATIVE AMERICAN FORAGE PLANTS. 435 pp., illus. New York. 1924. 



