Sky Pilot (2)
Sky Pilots are tall, showy plants in the usually low-growing environment above tree-line. They grow up to 10" tall with finely divided leaves pointing upward, ladder-like. They have five overlapping petals around five stamens with golden anthers. I have photographed them in multiple locations in Colorado without knowing there was more than one Sky Pilot and have made the identifications here based on the discussions at SWColoradoWildflowers.com and iNaturalist.org, and the maps of collection data at SEINet.
Rocky Mountain Jacob's Ladder
Polemonium confertum
Family:
Phlox (Polemoniaceae)
AKA:
Rocky Mountains Sky Pilot, Dense Sky
Pilot
Photo taken on:
July 12, 2008
Location:
South Baldy, GV, CO
Life Zones:
Alpine
Habitat:
Scree slopes, talus
Leaves are larger and less crowded than P. viscosum. Flowers are light blue. Stamens are bright orange. The shape of the flower-head is round. It is endemic to Colorado but is not rare.
Sticky Sky Pilot
Polemonium viscosum
Family:
Phlox (Polemoniaceae)
AKA:
Sticky Jacob's Ladder, Skunk Polemonium
Photo taken on:
July 16, 2019
Location:
Cumberland Pass, CO
Life Zones:
Alpine
Habitat:
Tundra, high meadows
Flowers are deep blue. Stamens are yellow. The shape of the flower-head is fan-shaped. The plant has an odor which some find offensive, hence the skunk in the common name.