Phlox speciosa

Jepson 2012

Duration: Perennial Nativity: Native Lifeform: Subshrub General: Herbaceous perennials, often growing in low mounds or mats, stems open and erect. Leaves: Opposite, lance-linear, 1-5 cm long, with entire margins. Flowers: Purple, bright pink, or white, with white throats and 5 notched petals with 2 rounded lobes at each tip, corolla tubes 10-15 mm long, the lobes obcordate to deeply 2-lobed, calyx 7-10 mm long, (membrane not keeled), stamens short, anthers within the corolla tube, styles to 2 mm long, stigmas larger than the styles, inflorescences dense, terminal, with leaf-like bracts below, pedicels slender, 3-20 mm long. Fruits: Capsule. Seeds 1-many. Ecology: Found on rocky soils on wooded slopes and in sagebrush scrub communities, from 1,500-8,000 ft (457-2438 m); flowering April-June. Distribution: Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington. Notes: This pretty perennial has purple, pink, or white flowers with 5 petals, each petal slightly folded along the middle and with a notch creating 2 rounded lobes at each tip. Ethnobotany: Specific uses for this species are unknown, but other species in the genus have uses. Synonyms: None Editor: LCrumbacher2012 Etymology: Phlox comes from the Greek phlox, "flame," ancient name of Lychnis of the Caryophyllaceae, and speciosa means showy.