Key to Polemonium

View taxon page for Polemonium

(For a list of species in Polemonium, use the above link.)

Jepson Manual glossary definitions can be seen by moving your cursor over words underlined with dots.

1. Annual; flowers 1–2 in axils ..... P. micranthum

1' Perennial herb; flowers generally clustered at stem tips

2. Leaflets 2–5-lobed; inflorescence a dense, rounded 

head 

1. A dense, often spheric inflorescence of sessile or subsessile flowers.
2. In Asteraceae and some other groups, a head-like inflorescence is one in which sessile or subsessile inflorescence units (e.g., heads in Asteraceae, umbels enclosed by involucres in Eriogonum), instead of individual flowers, are attached in a short dense cluster without an evident axis or branches.

3. Style 

included 

Not protruding out of surrounding structure(s) (e.g., stamens included in corolla).

; 

petiole 

Leaf stalk, connecting leaf blade to stem; sometimes more or less indistinct.

base generally not membranous ..... P. eximium

3' Style slightly or much 

exserted 

Protruding out of surrounding structure(s) (e.g., stamens exserted from corolla).

; petiole base membranous

4. Calyx 

lobes 

1. A major expansion or bulge, such as on the margin of a leaf, sepal, or petal, or on the surface of an ovary. 2. The free tips of otherwise fused structures, such as sepals or petals; larger than teeth.

 

acuminate 

Having a long-tapered, sharp tip, the sides concave.

; pistil 5–10 mm, style slightly exserted; 

petioles 

Leaf stalk, connecting leaf blade to stem; sometimes more or less indistinct.

1–5 cm ..... P. chartaceum

4' Calyx lobes rounded; pistil 10.3–13.8 mm, style much exserted; petioles 0.5–1 cm ..... P. eddyense

2' Leaflets 

entire 

Having margins that are continuous and smooth (i.e., without teeth, lobes, etc.).

; inflorescence various but not head-like

5. Plant not 

cespitose 

Having a densely clumped, tufted, matted, or cushion-like growth form.

, stems generally solitary, 

erect 

Upright; vertically oriented.

, 40–100 cm; leaves cauline

6. Corolla lobes generally white to pale pink to rarely purple (often purple on herbarium specimens); leaflets 

elliptic 

In the shape of a flattened circle or ellipse; wider than linear

..... P. carneum

6' Corolla lobes purple to generally blue; leaflets 

lanceolate 

Narrowly elongate, widest in the basal half, often tapered to an acute tip.

..... P. occidentale

5' Plant cespitose, stems clumped or tufted, 

decumbent 

lying mostly flat on the ground but with tips curving up.

to erect, 5–25 cm; leaves ± 

basal 

At or near the base of a plant or plant part. Especially said of leaves clustered near the ground or of a placenta confined to the base of an ovary.

7. Terminal 

leaflet 

A leaf-like unit of a compound leaf; distinguished from a leaf by the absence in its axil of a bud, branch, thorn, or flower; lacking lateral, basal appendages (stipules); either simple (leaf 1-compound, with primary leaflets) or compound (leaf 2-compound, with primary and secondary leaflets; 3-compound, with primary, secondary, and tertiary leaflets, etc).

± fused with adjacent pair; corolla limb 7–15 mm diam; dry, open to shaded areas in montane forest ..... P. californicum

7' Terminal leaflet generally free from adjacent pair; corolla limb 5–11 mm diam; subalpine to alpine talus ..... P. pulcherrimum

8. Corolla lobes blue to purple; herbage sparsely glandular-hairy ..... var. pulcherrimum

8' Corolla lobes white, generally with pink veins or tinge (individual flowers or plants rarely without pink); herbage densely glandular-hairy ..... var. shastense

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