Showy phlox
Phlox
speciosa Nutt.
Collected along the Clearwater River between Pine Creek and
Big Canyon Creek, Nez Perce Co., Idaho, on 7 May 1806.
(Source)
Showy phlox is pretty perennial phlox with a shrubby base,
with multiple stems which may rise from 15 to 40 cm high. The herbage is
glandular to glandular-hairy above. The leaves are linear to broadly lanceolate,
and to 7 cm long and 1 cm wide. The leaves are opposite on the stems, and are
widely spaced. The inflorescence is a loose cyme.
Individual corollas are pink to white, usually with notched petal tips. The tube
is 10 to 15 mm long, with the lobes an equal length. The calyx is about equal in
length to the tube. The membranes between the calyx ribs are flat to slightly
keeled. The style is very short (0.5-2 mm long) and is divided near the base
into 3 linear stigmas which are longer than the style.
Showy phlox is a wildflower of sagebrush and ponderosa pine
habitats. It is found in the northwestern states and eastward into Idaho and
Montana.