32 FLORA OF MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK. 
with its shrubby stem and large, flat flower clusters, often lends 
variety to the grassy slopes studded with numerous herbaceous 
plants. The mountain currant, Ribes acerifolium, also adds variety, 
especially near streams or in the shade of groups of trees, though its 
Fig. 25 .—Polemonium pulchellum. 
Color of flower, pale blue; height of plant, 8 to 12 inches; blooms July and August. 
Photograph by A. H. Barnes. 
small green flowers are not conspicuous. The wild hellebore, Vera- 
trum viride (see cover), forms dense clumps anywhere throughout 
these variegated slopes. Its tall herbaceous stem, rising 4 or 5 feet 
high, bears drooping panicles of greenish-white flowers and very 
