Summary ²

Polemonium reptans is a perennial herbaceous plant native to eastern North America. Common names include spreading Jacob's ladder, creeping Jacob's ladder, false Jacob's ladder, abscess root, american Greek valerian, blue bells, stairway to heaven, and sweatroot.

Description ³

Family:
Polemoniaceae (Phlox)

Height:
10 to 24 inches

Leaves:
Compound leaves consist of many (up to 17 per stem) oppositely attached leaflets (½-1½” long and ½” wide) with pointed tips.

Flower:
Flowers (up to ⅔” across) are pale blue and bell-shaped, emerging in loose clusters from slender, weak stems.

Bloom time:
May-July

Nicknames:
Spreading Jacob’s Ladder, Greek Valerian, Creeping Polemonium, Stairway to Heaven, Abscess Root, Sweatroot

Habitat:
Jacob’s Ladder grows best in partial shade, in moist to well-drained, rich, loamy soils. It generally grows on higher quality sites, and is commonly found in rich deciduous woodlands, low-lying wooded slopes, and along shaded stream or riverbanks.

Wildlife Benefits:
Nectar and pollen are attractive to butterflies, moths, and many species of bees.

Can I plant this in my garden?
This plant does well in shady areas with rich soils, and will not tolerate drought. As such, it is a good species for woodland edges or shady streambanks. It can be grown from seed sown in early spring, or by rootstock division.

References:
https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/spreading-jacobs-ladder
https://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/woodland/plants/jacob_ladder.htm
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/polemonium-reptans/

Range ³

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District, all rights reserved, uploaded by Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District
2. Adapted by Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polemonium_reptans
3. (c) Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

More Info

• iNaturalistAU taxon page
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• eFloras.org
• Flora of North America (beta)
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• Go Botany
• HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
• IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
• Maryland Biodiversity Project
• NatureServe Explorer 2.0
• SEINet Symbiota portals
• Tropicos
• USDA PLANTS database
• VASCAN by Canadensys
• World Flora Online

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