''Polemonium boreale'', the northern Jacob's-ladder
or boreal Jacobs-ladder, is a plant native to the most of the high
arctic
The Arctic ( or ) is a polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenland), Finland, Iceland, N ...
. In
Greenland
Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...
it is found only in a small area on the east coast. It is not very common.
The whole plant is pubescent, with long woolly hairs, glandular, and grows to 5–10 cm tall. The basal
leaves are more or less alternate, and pinnate, with numerous leaflets. The
flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...
s are produced in a more or less capitate
inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...
, each flower bell-shaped, blue, 15 mm long, 2.5 times longer than the
calyx. The plant has a very unpleasant smell, and grows on gravelly slopes and in crevices.
Image:Polemonium boreale - Jacobsledder2.jpg, Native to the most of the high arctic
The Arctic ( or ) is a polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenland), Finland, Iceland, N ...
, its range includes Svalbard.
File:Polemonium_boreale_8882.JPG, The inflorescence consists of 3—7 (exceptionally 9), 5–15 mm flowers.
File:Polemonium_boreale_8879.JPG, Basal leaves are pinnate with numerous small leaflets.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1796649
boreale
Flora of the Arctic
Flora of Greenland
Flora of Norway