Pl.ex.c6r. 27. GENTIANS. 99. Menyanthes. 341 
Roof black; stem ascending, branched at bottom ; leaf- 
lets toothed, repand ; flowers peduncled, flesh-colour. — • 
Leaves extremely bitter, used instead of hops, and to de- 
stroy worms, as also in rheumatism and dropsy ; they are 
also smoked. 
Fam. XI. 28. POLEMONIACEiE. Ventenat Polemonii 9 
Jussieu. Polemomdece , Persoon. 
Personatce , Adanson. 
Calyx 1 -leafed, divided, persisting; corolla 1 -petal ed, 
hypogynous, regularly 5-lobed ; stamens 5, inserted in the 
middle of the tube of the corolla, alternating with the lobes ; 
ovary 1, free, 3-celled, many-seeded, girt at the base with 
an annular gland ; style simple ; stigmata 4 ; capsule 3-celled, 
3-valved; dehiscence loculicidal; spermophore axile, 3-sided, 
angles opposed to the middle of the valves ; seeds many, 
peritropal ; spermodermis membranaceous ; perisperm 
fleshy; corculum straight, transverse; radicle below; coty- 
ledons elliptical, leaflike. — Stem herbaceous ; leaves opposite 
or alternate ; flowers terminal or axillary. 
I. 100. POLEMONIUM. Dioscorides. Jacob's ladder. 
Calyx pitchershape, 5-cut ; corolla bellshape, rotate ; 
tube short; limb 5-lobed; stamens 5; filaments dilated, 
villous at bottom ; anthers oval, incumbent ; capsule 3-celled ; 
cells 2-seeded: seeds angular.— -Herb erect; leaves alter- 
nate, pinnate with an odd leaflet ; flowers subcorymbose, 
terminal. 
Polemonium vulgare. Common Jacob's ladder . 
Flowers upright ; calyx longer than the tube of the co- 
rolla ; root fibrous. 
Polemonium vulgare caeruleum et album, Raii Syn. 288, 1. 
Valeriana Graeca, Ger.em. 1076; Park. 122. 
Polemonium caeruleum, Lin. S. P. 280. 
Polemonium elatum, Salisb. Prod. 125. 
Greek valerian. Ladder to heaven. Setwalt. 
Limestone rocks ; perennial ; June. 
Stem pubescent, angular; leaflets 14 to 17 pair, ovate, 
unequal at the base ; corolla blue or white. 
