W153 

 BLUE SKUNKLEAF 



Polemo'nium pulcher'rimum, syns. P. delica'tum, P. "hu'mile", 1 and P. "pul- 

 chel'lum", 1 P. scopuli'num 



United petals (corolla) bell-shaped, % in. 

 long, white and tubular below the middle, with 

 5 rounded, spreading, blue, violet, or rose- 

 colored lobes above the middle 



Seed-producing organ (pistil) tipped by a 3- 

 parted stalk (style), shorter than corolla 



Stamens 5, shorter than the corolla, each 

 attached to the corolla by a hairy appendage 



Outer flower parts (calyx) green, about K as 

 long as the corolla, hairy, slightly enlarging in 

 fruit, with 5 lance-shaped lobes 



Flowers on slender stalks, in open clusters at 

 ends of stems 



Seed pod (capsule) much 

 shorter than calyx, 3-celled, 

 splitting down the back of 

 each of the 3 valves 



Leaves numerous at base, few on stem, 1 to 

 6 in. long, divided, each with from a few to 12 

 pairs of leaflets besides terminal leaflet 



Leaflets simple, entire-edged, oval to lance- 

 shaped, blunt at tips, sometimes extending onto 

 main rib (rachis) of leaf and partly joined with 

 leaflets nearest on same side of rachis 



Stems slightly hairy to sticky, usually numer- 

 ous, tufteo, low (up to 12 in. high), slender, 

 sparingly branched 



Rootstock woody, extensive, underground 



1 Of United States authors. 



