﻿(149.) 



POLEMO'NIUM* *. 



Linnean Class and Order. Penta'ndria f, Monogy'nia. 



Natural Order. Polemonia'ce®, Lindl. Syn. p. 168; Introd. 

 to Nat. Syst. of Bot. p. 219. — Rich, by Macgilliv. p. 443. — Loud. 

 Hort. Brit. p. 526. — Polemo'nia, Juss. Gen. PI. p. 136. — Sm. 

 Gram, of Bot. p. 104. — Syringales ; subord. Primulos® ; sect. 

 Solani® ; type, Polemonia'ce® ; Burn. Outl. of Bot. pp. 900, 

 958, 982, & 1000. — Campanace®, Linn. 



Gen. Char. Calyx (fig. 1.) inferior, permanent, of 1 sepal, 

 divided into 5 broad, somewhat pointed segments. Corolla of 

 1 petal, wheel-shaped ; tube very short, closed at the top by 5 con- 

 vex, downy valves (see fig. 2.) ; limb large, dilated, spreading, 

 slightly concave, in 5 roundish, blunt, equal segments. Filaments 

 (see fig. 2.) 5, awl-shaped, inclining, shorter than the corolla, in- 

 serted upon the valves. Anthers terminal, upright, oblong, round- 

 ish after bursting. Germen (see fig. 3.) superior, egg-shaped, 

 pointed. Style (see fig. 3.) thread-shaped, as long as the stamens. 

 Stigma in 3 pointed revolute segments. Capsule (figs. 4, 5, & 6.) 

 egg-shaped, of 3 blunt angles, invested with the permanent calyx, 

 of 3 cells, and 3 valves, opening at the top. Partitions contrary 

 to the valves. Seeds (figs. 7 & 8.) numerous, oblong, triangular, 

 attached to the innermost angle of each cell. 



The 5-cleft calyx ; wheel-shaped corolla ; stamens inserted upon 

 the 5 teeth or valves which close the mouth of the tube ; and the 

 3-celled, 3-valved capsule, will distinguish this from other genera, 

 with a monopetalous inferior corolla, and numerous covered seeds, 

 in the same class and order. 



One species British. 



POLEMO'NIUM CiERU'LEUM. Blue Jacob’s Ladder. Greek 

 Valerian. Ladder to Heaven. Setwall. 



Spec. Char. Leaves pinnate, smooth. Leaflets oblong-spear- 

 shaped. Flowers upright. 



Engl. Bot. 1. 14. — Linn. Sp. PI. p. 230.— Huds. FI. Angl. (2nd ed.) p. 89. — 

 Sm. FI. Brit, v i. p.2t4. Engl. FI. v. i. p.286. — With. (7th ed.) p. 300. — 

 Lindl. Syn. p. 168. — Hook. Brit. FI. p. 96. — Sibth. FI. Oxon. p. 76. — Purt. Midi. 

 FI. v. i. p. 123. ; v.ii. p.731.; andv.iii.p 344. — Hook. FI. Scot. p. 74. — Grev. 

 FI. Edin. p. 50. — Walk. FI. of Oxf. p. 56. — Mack. Gatal. of PI. of Irel. p. 23. — 

 Polemonium vulgare, Gray’s Nat. Air. v. ii. p. 341. — Polemonium vulgare 

 ceeruleum, Ray’s Syn. p.288. — Valeriana greeca, Johnson’s Gerar. p. 1076. 



Localities. — On banks, in moist woods, and bushy places. Rare. — Oxford- 

 shire ; Near the Plantations, under the Ochre-pits, at Shotover-hill : Dr. Sib- 

 thorp. On the side of the Woodstock road between the first and second mile- 

 stone from Oxford, 1819: W.B. Not to be found there now; the spot on which 

 I observed it growing, in considerable abundance, previous to 1820, is inclosed, 



Fig. 1. Calyx and Pistil. — Fig. 2. The 5 Stamens, situated on the valves in 

 the mouth of the tube of the Corolla.— Fig. 3. Germen, Style, and Stigma. — 

 Fig. 4. The Capsule. — Fig. 5. The same opening at the top. — Fig. 6. A trans- 

 verse section of the same, showing the 3 Cells and Partitions. — Fig. 7. A Seed. 

 — Fig. 8. The same magnified. 



* From polemos, Gr. war . — According to Pliny this plant caused a war 

 between two kings, occasioned, as he says, by a disagreement that arose as to 

 which first discovered its uses. Professor Burnett. 

 t See Anchusa sempervirens, folio 48, note t- 



