These are lovely herbaceous perennials, making clumps of upright stems, with pinnate leaves. The tops of the stems are clothed with many fairly small flowers, usually blue, but white in some forms, and there are species with yellow flowers.

Polemonium brandegeei is an unusual variety of 'Jacobs Ladder' with tubular flowers, straw-coloured, with a purple tint, which appear above the typical, feathery foliage.