Polemonium pulcherrimum
Jacob's ladder
(c) Trevor Van Loon, some rights reserved (CC BY) · licence
Family: Polemoniaceae · Type: Herb · Native
Polemonium pulcherrimum (Jacob's ladder) is a native California herb in the Polemoniaceae family.
Jacob's ladder is a California native perennial found in alpine and subalpine meadows and rocky slopes at high elevations. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces blue to lavender flowers with a rotate corolla 5 to 11 millimeters in diameter, forming dense clusters of 4 to 5 blooms. Growing with erect, hairy stems 5 to 20 centimeters tall, it forms a dense clump from a short rhizome. Its distinctive leaves are compound with 9 to 22 small ovate leaflets, each 3 to 4 millimeters long, arranged in a ladder-like pattern along the stem. The compact plant produces a small fruit 3 to 4 millimeters long, containing up to 3 dark brown to black seeds.
Habitat and range
California counties: Mono, Alpine, Shasta, Modoc, Siskiyou, El Dorado, Placer, Nevada, Tuolumne, Amador, Trinity, Fresno, Mariposa, Plumas, Sierra, Butte, Alameda, Los Angeles, Riverside
Frequently asked questions
Is Polemonium pulcherrimum native to California?
Yes. Polemonium pulcherrimum is native to California (recorded as native).
Where in California does Polemonium pulcherrimum grow?
Polemonium pulcherrimum occurs in Mono, Alpine, Shasta, Modoc, Siskiyou, El Dorado, Placer, Nevada and other counties.
What plant family does Polemonium pulcherrimum belong to?
Polemonium pulcherrimum is in the Polemoniaceae family, genus Polemonium.
Related species
Other California species in the same genus, family, or bioregion.
Sources: Jepson eFlora · Index of California Plant Names · CalPhotos
Last updated 2026-10-07
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Cal-IPC, and more.