• Scientific Name: Polemonium caeruleum L.
• Ref: Sp. Pl.:162. 1753
• Synonyms: Polemonium lacteum Lehm., Polemonium sibiricum D.Don
• English Common Name: Jacob’s ladder, Greek valerian
• Chinese Common Name: 花荵 huārěn
• Japanese Common Name: セイヨウハナシノブ [西洋花忍] seiyōhanashinobu
• Family: Polemoniaceae
• Genus: Polemonium
• Distribution: Streambanks or moist sites in meadows, open slopes, open sites in forests; (1000-)1700-3700 m. Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Xinjiang, NW Yunnan [India, Japan, Kashmir, Korea, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia; Europe, North America]
• Photo: 07/14/2008, Mt. Changbai, Jilin
• Note: misspelt as Polemonium coeruleum in FRPS vol. 64(1), 1979

Stems erect, 30-100 cm, glabrous or sparsely glandular-pubescent above middle. Leaves pinnately compound, 7-14(-25) cm, gradually reduced upward, distal leaves ± sessile; petiole 1.5-8 cm; leaflets 11-27, ovate to lanceolate, 1-4 cm 2-14 mm, glabrous to sparsely pilose. Pedicel 3-5(-10) mm, puberulent to villous, trichomes often minutely glandular. Calyx 5-8 mm; lobes ca. as long as tube, oblong to lanceolate, apex obtuse to acuminate. Corolla violet to blue-violet, broadly campanulate, 1-2 cm; lobes obovate, margin glabrous to sparsely ciliate, apex rounded to ± acute. Stamens ca. as long as corolla, rarely shorter or longer than corolla. Style longer than stamens, slightly exserted. Capsule 5-7 mm. Seeds brown, 3-3.5 mm. Fl. Jun-Aug, fr. Jun-Sep. 2n = 14, 18 + 0-1B. (Flora of China)

07/14/2008, Mt. Changbai, Jilin