3 1 o Polemoniac&z Polemonium. 



Spring, though not quite hardy enough to withstand the 

 severity of our Winters. It grows about 18 inches or 2 feet 

 high, with the sessile leaves palmately divided to the base into 

 linear rigid segments, and comparatively large solitary rose- 

 coloured flowers, produced in the greatest profusion from the 

 tips of the short lateral branches. 



Ipomopsis elegans, syn, Gilia coranopifolia, is a tall slender 



biennial from 2 to 4 feet high, 

 with divided leaves and ter- 

 minal panicles of orange-scarlet 

 flowers spotted with purple. 

 There is also a rose-coloured 

 variety. 



4. POLEMONIUM. 



Perennial herbs with alter- 

 nate unequally pinnate leaves 

 and corymbose blue or white 

 flowers. Calyx campanulate. 

 Corolla rotate, 5-lobed. Sta- 

 mens declinate, inserted on 

 the throat of the corolla ; 

 filaments hairy at the base. 

 Cells of the capsule many- 

 seeded. There are about twelve 

 species in temperate northern 

 regions. The name is from 

 TroXe/tos 1 , war, but the applica- 

 tion is not satisfactorily ex- 

 plained. 



1. P. cceruleum (fig. 174). 

 Jacob's Ladder, Greek Vale- 

 rian. An elegant border 

 plant, and one of the oldest 

 favourites in cottage gardens. 

 Stems about 2 feet high, an- 

 gular and fistular, and as well 



Pig. 174. Polemonium cseruleum. (J nat. size.) 



as the foliage glabrous or 



slightly pubescent, and glandular. Flowers white or blue, 

 according to the variety, appearing in Summer. There is also 

 a handsome variety with variegated foliage and white flowers. 



