Kingdom Plantae Family Polemoniaceae Scientific name Polemonium californicum | Order Ericales Genus Polemonium Rank Species | |
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Similar Polemonium micranthum, Polemonium occidentale, Polemonium eximium, Polemonium pulcherrimum, Polemonium pauciflorum | ||
Polemonium californicum is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common names moving polemonium, low Jacob's-ladder, and California Jacob's ladder. It is native to the northwestern United States, where it grows in shady and moist habitat, such as mountain woodlands. It is a hairy, glandular rhizomatous perennial herb forming clumps of several decumbent to erect stems 30 to 50 centimeters in maximum height. The leaves are up to 20 centimeters long and are compound, made up of several pairs of oval to lance-shaped leaflets. The leaflet at the tip of the leaf is often fused to the pair behind it. The inflorescence is a crowded cluster of bell-shaped flowers each up to 1.5 centimeters wide. The flower is blue or purple with a yellow center and a whitish tubular throat. The fruit is a capsule.