Blue skunkleaf is a well-known perennial herb of the phlox 

 family. Together with several other species of Polemoniwn, it is 

 sometimes called Jacobs-ladder because of the imagined resemblance 

 of the paired leaflets to a ladder, and also skunkweed because of the 

 unpleasant odor of the herbage. The specific name puLcherrimwn 

 is a Latin word which means very fair, or pretty, and was given to 

 this species, to indicate the attractiveness of the flowers, by the 

 distinguished British botanist Sir William J. Hooker (1785-1865), 

 who originally described it. 



Blue skunkleaf is a widely spread western species, occurring in all 

 of the 11 far Western States. It is common in eastern Washing- 

 ton and Oregon, western and to some extent eastern Montana, 

 western Wyoming, and throughout Idaho, Utah, and Colorado, but 

 is rare or absent in the southern portions of New Mexico, Nevada, 

 and California. It is typically a high mountain species of the lodge- 

 pole pine, aspen, spruce-fir, and alpine belts. In Utah and Colorado 

 it is very common at and above timber line, and is usually found in 

 scattered, small patches in open meadows, canyon bottoms, parks and 

 grassy slopes, or in the diffuse light of open timber stands, mostly in 

 moist, relatively coarse-textured soils, such as rocky or gravelly, 

 occasionally sandy, loam. 



This species is of slight forage value, though its importance varies 

 somewhat in different places. It seldom grows in great abundance, 

 and its palatability is usually worthless to poor for cattle and poor to 

 fair, or occasionally fairly good, for sheep. It is most likely to 

 occur on sheep ranges, occupying, as it usually does, areas higher 

 than those ordinarily occupied by cattle. It is best for grazing in 

 midsummer; at the latter part of the season the foliage is frequently 

 frost-bitten and dry. 



The rather numerous, slender stems of blue skunkleaf spread out 

 laterally at the base and then become erect, are occasionally branched 

 above, and grow in bunches or tufts. The root starts as a slender 

 or moderately spindle-shaped taproot; later there is an extensive 

 development of lateral rootstocks, and often the crown becomes 

 branched. The root crown is clothed above with the old leaf bases 

 and produces many shallow-growing, fibrous rootlets below. Because 

 of its spreading, often shallow character, most of the root and 

 rootstock system may sometimes be easily pulled from the ground, 

 especially if the soil is loose and moist. The compound leaves, which 

 are finely hairy in some plants and smooth in others, are mostly from 

 the base, those of the stem becoming gradually smaller and with 

 fewer leaflets. The flowers droop while in bud but become erect 

 when they bloom, the outer and lower flowers in each cluster 

 blossoming first. Flowering begins in June or July, or in some 

 sites as early as May, and continues for about 6 to 8 weeks. Seed 

 production starts about July, depending upon the locality, and con- 

 tinues as long as the season is favorable. 



