Because of the skunk-like smell of these plants, one might think that the name "Polemonium" referred  to "pole"-cat (skunk), but the name is more probably for either the Greek Philosopher, Polemon, or from the Greek  "polemos" meaning "strife":  Pliny the Elder indicated that a war was fought over who actually discovered this plant!

Montane, subalpine.  Meadows.  Summer.
Scotch Creek Road, July 1, 2004.

Polemonium foliosissimum is easy to spot and identify because of its growth patterns: it is often in dense to loosely scattered colonies in open mountain meadows; it grows tall (commonly two to three feet) in an open, airy manner; and its leaves are finely cut.  Its abundance of softly lavender/blue/purple flowers are borne in numerous, showy clusters.  Altogether, Polemonium foliosissimum is a softly appealing, lovely plant and one of our favorites.

Charles Parry first found this plant for science in Colorado and it was named by Asa Gray in 1878.  "Foliosissimum" is Greek for "very leafy".  (More biographical information.)

Montane, subalpine.  Meadows.  Summer.
Lizard Head Trail, June 19, 2004.

Montane, subalpine.  Meadows.  Summer.
Navajo Lake Trail, July 11, 2005.

Montane, subalpine. Woodlands. Summer.
Owens Basin Trail, June 13, 2004.The very common Polemonium pulcherrimum is short and pale blue/purple. It most commonly grows in shady, acid soils under Spruce and Fir, but it can also be found, as in the photograph at left, in open sunny areas.  It is common for clusters of many plants to have few, if any, flowers.  But eye-catching arrays of dozens of flowers are also common.  In the very dry year of 2003 we found no Polemonium pulcherrimum in bloom.  Following the very wet winter and spring of 2004-2005, we found many in bloom.

The name "Pulcherrimum" is Greek for "very beautiful" and was given to this plant by William Jackson Hooker in 1830 from a specimen collected by Thomas Drummond in his 1825-1827 Canadian Rockies explorations.