Polemonium vanbruntiae
Green Mountain National Forest, Addison County, Vermont (June 23)

Vulnerable  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Polemoniaceae
Genus: Polemonium
Species:
P. vanbruntiae
Binomial name
Polemonium vanbruntiae

Polemonium vanbruntiae is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family Polemoniaceae.[3] It is known by the common names Appalachian Jacob's ladder, bog Jacob's-ladder, and Vanbrunt's polemonium. It is native to eastern Canada and the northeastern United States.

Description

Polemonium vanbruntiae is a perennial herb that grows erect from a horizontal rhizome,[4] reaching one meter in maximum height. The leaves are each made up of 7 to 10 pairs of lance-shaped or nearly oval leaflets. The inflorescence is a corymb of purple-blue flowers with yellow centers. The stamens and stigmas protrude from the bell-shaped corolla.

Polemonium vanbruntiae is similar to P. caeruleum and P. reptans.

Taxonomy

Polemonium vanbruntiae was described and named by the American botanist Nathaniel Lord Britton in 1892.[2] In large part, Britton based his description on specimens collected by Mrs. Van Brunt in the Catskill Mountains in Ulster County, New York in 1890: "I take pleasure in dedicating it to the lady who has supplied such fine and numerous specimens".[5][6] Consequently, Polemonium vanbruntiae Britton is commonly called Van Brunt's Jacob's-ladder (or Vanbrunt's polemonium).[7][8]

Distribution and habit

Polemonium vanbruntiae can be found from New Brunswick and Quebec south to Maryland and West Virginia.[3][9] It is not common anywhere but it is probably most abundant in New York.[1][10] It tolerates a wide variety of wetland habitat types including swamps, bogs, marshes, and wet spots along roadsides. Its habitat is often saturated, but not flooded.[11]

Ecology

Polemonium vanbruntiae reproduces both sexually and vegetatively, although the relative importance of each is not known.[1] Plants typically flower from mid-June to late-July.[12]

Conservation

The global conservation status of Polemonium vanbruntiae is vulnerable (G3G4).[1] It is imperiled (S2) in Maryland, Quebec, Vermont, and West Virginia; critically imperiled (S1) in Maine, New Brunswick, and Pennsylvania; and presumed extirpated (SX) in New Jersey.

The main threat to the species is the destruction and degradation of wetland habitat, for example, by flooding during dam construction. Habitat is also lost outright in the conversion to agriculture and other uses.[11] Succession may be a threat in some areas, as the plant's open habitat becomes shaded when large and woody vegetation moves in.[1] It is adapted to some level of disturbance in the habitat.

Uses

Polemonium vanbruntiae is sometimes cultivated for garden use.[11]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Polemonium vanbruntiae". NatureServe Explorer. NatureServe. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  2. 1 2 "Polemonium vanbruntiae Britton". International Plant Names Index (IPNI). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries; Australian National Botanic Gardens. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  3. 1 2 "Polemonium vanbruntiae Britton". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  4. ↑ Britton (1892), Plate CXXXI.
  5. ↑ Britton (1892), p. 224.
  6. ↑ "Type of Polemonium vanbruntiae Britton [family Polemoniaceae]". JSTOR. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  7. ↑ "Polemonium vanbruntiae Britton". Canadensys.net. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  8. ↑ USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Polemonium vanbruntiae Britton". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  9. ↑ "Polemonium vanbruntiae". State-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  10. ↑ "Polemonium vanbruntiae". County-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  11. 1 2 3 "Bog Jacob's-ladder (Polemonium vanbruntiae)". Center For Plant Conservation. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  12. ↑ "Jacob's Ladder Polemonium vanbruntiae Britt.". New York Natural Heritage Program. Retrieved 19 June 2023.

Bibliography

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.