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Apr 22, 2014 9:15 PM CST
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Name: Dirt
(Zone 5b)
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Thumb of 2014-04-23/dirtdorphins/41c64d


Thumb of 2014-04-23/dirtdorphins/b16cf9
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Apr 22, 2014 10:08 PM CST
Name: Lori
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Plant Identifier
Last edited by growitall Apr 22, 2014 10:42 PM Icon for preview
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Apr 23, 2014 3:20 AM CST
Name: Janet Super Sleuth
Near Lincoln UK
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Polemonium pulcherrimum looks close, does it have a 'skunky smell'? The leaves look quite rounded ..

Leaves pinnately divided into 9–21 widely oval to round leaflets


http://www.pnwflowers.com/flow...
Avatar for growitall
Apr 23, 2014 6:42 AM CST
Name: Lori
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Plant Identifier
P. boreale has leaves pinnately divided in 13-23 (the first link I posted has the description from Flora of Alberta), so there is considerable overlap there.
P. pulcherrimum is a common alpine here (I've also grown it), and my impression is that it tends to be a looser-leafed, sprawling plant than the one in the photo.

Aside from the skunky smell (and perhaps general habit), the tube length of the flowers may also distinguish these two.
Here's a description of P. pulcherrimum:
http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Atla...

The tube length for P. boreale: "the 5 lobes slightly longer than the yellowish tube and rounded at the tip".
For P. pulcherrimum: "the 5 rounded lobes equalling to nearly twice as long as the tube". (Again, some possible overlap between "slightly longer" and "equalling".)
Last edited by growitall Apr 23, 2014 7:00 AM Icon for preview
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Apr 23, 2014 7:15 AM CST
Name: Janet Super Sleuth
Near Lincoln UK
Bee Lover Plant Identifier Organic Gardener Dragonflies I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Charter ATP Member
Cat Lover Garden Photography Butterflies Birds Spiders!
I clipped the descriptions of both species from the site you linked to Lori, easier to compare!

http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Atla...

Polemonium pulcherrimum certainly looks more common, unless it's a garden plant, and I don't know the location of dirtdorphins.

http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Atla...

Thumb of 2014-04-23/JRsbugs/2f5b0a Thumb of 2014-04-23/JRsbugs/9f7d9b

One of the big differences which stand out to me is the description of the leaves, for boreale it states "elliptic to oval" and for pulcherrinum "egg-shaped to circular". These leaves look very close to circular to me.
Last edited by JRsbugs Apr 23, 2014 7:20 AM Icon for preview
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Apr 23, 2014 8:08 AM CST
Name: Lori
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Plant Identifier
Interesting that the sketch for P. pulcherrimum doesn't really suggest "egg-shaped to circular" to me. That characteristic seems to be variable.

Here are photos of local P. pulcherrimum showing elliptical leaves:

These (Turner Photographics and Calphotos) show similar leaf shapes to the plants I see here:
http://www.pnwflowers.com/flow...
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/...

Will be interesting to hear if it smells skunky or not.
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Apr 23, 2014 8:14 AM CST
Thread OP
Name: Dirt
(Zone 5b)
Region: Utah Bee Lover Garden Photography Photo Contest Winner: 2014 Photo Contest Winner: 2015 Photo Contest Winner: 2016
Photo Contest Winner 2018 Photo Contest Winner 2019 Photo Contest Winner 2020 Photo Contest Winner 2021 Photo Contest Winner 2022 Photo Contest Winner 2023
Thank you both,
It is a fairly tight, little mat-former in my garden, no skunky odor--
After some considerable investigation into how/where I may have acquired this plant, it must be a P. boreale variety, most likely that which is sold as 'San Juan Skies' around here...
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