Polemonium pulcherrimum
species of plant

Polemonium pulcherrimum is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by several common names, including beautiful Jacob's-ladder, showy Jacob's-ladder, and skunk-leaved polemonium. It is native to western North America from Alaska and Yukon to Arizona and New Mexico, where it can be found in many types of mountain habitat, including alpine talus and rock cracks at high elevations. It is a common and widespread wildflower in several regions. It is a perennial herb producing a clump of several erect stem approaching a maximum height of 30 centimeters. The leaves are mostly basal, with smaller ones arranged along the stem. The leaves are made up of several pairs of lance-shaped to oval or round leaflets. The herbage is lightly hairy, densely glandular, sticky, and strongly scented, the odor reminiscent of skunk. The showy inflorescence is a dense elongated or headlike cluster of bell-shaped flowers each just under a centimeter wide. The flower is deep to bright or pale blue to nearly white with a yellow throat.
Taxonomy
Polemonium pulcherrimum was scientifically described and named by William Jackson Hooker in 1830.
“Polemonium pulcherrimum” enters the record as species of plant. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Polemonium, pulcherrimum and species can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Polemonium pulcherrimum” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Polemonium, pulcherrimum and species provides the most credible route into that argument.
Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q9061370. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1830.
A general summary may omit uncertainty, sample limits or methodological disagreement that is explicit in the technical record. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.
- Current terminology
- Classification context
- Finding cited technical literature
Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Polemonium pulcherrimum”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Polemonium pulcherrimum primary sources, Polemonium pulcherrimum archive and Polemonium research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Polemonium pulcherrimum”?
- Is the terminology current, historical or disputed?
- Has classification or technical consensus changed since the cited source?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Polemonium pulcherrimum” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.