Sky pilot, Polemonium viscosium, is a showy purple bloom of high elevations. This plant is so closely associated with the highest mountaintops that early American mountain climbers used to only earn the privilege of wearing a sprig in their hat once they had climbed above 13,000 feet.
The blue-purple blooms are beautiful, but occasionally you can find a dazzling white form, too.
Sky pilot is a perfect name for this high-altitude-loving wildflower. Other common names for this particular species are sticky polemonium, sticky Jacob’s ladder, or skunkweed. As the last name suggests, this plant has a certain funk to it when disturbed.
Sky pilot may be pretty in itself, but it is best appreciated in combinations with its often spectacular surroundings.
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