Key to Phlox

View taxon page for Phlox

(For a list of species in Phlox, use the above link.)

Jepson Manual glossary definitions can be seen by moving your cursor over words underlined with dots.

1. Plant open, not ± matted to cushion-like; flowers generally 3–15 per inflorescence

2. Style < stigmas, 0.4–2 mm; calyx membrane not keeled ..... P. speciosa

2' Style >> stigmas, >= 4 mm; calyx membrane at least ± keeled

3. Lower leaves elliptic-ovate, 1–4 cm wide, glabrous; stem 

decumbent 

lying mostly flat on the ground but with tips curving up.

, flower branches 

erect 

Upright; vertically oriented.

– KR, NCoRO, NCoRH, CaR ..... P. adsurgens

3' Lower leaves lance-linear to 

lanceolate 

Narrowly elongate, widest in the basal half, often tapered to an acute tip.

, < 1 cm wide, generally hairy; stem generally ± erect

4. Style 4–7 mm; stigmas below anthers, anthers below corolla throat; n CaRH (Siskiyou Co.) ..... P. hirsuta

4' Style 11–40 mm; stigmas at or above 1 or more anthers, at least 1 anther near corolla throat; SnBr, GB, DMtns

5. Corolla tube (21)35–50 mm; 

leaf 

Organ arising from a stem, generally composed of a stalk (petiole) and a flat, expanded, green, photosynthetic area (blade); distinguished from a leaflet by the presence in its axil of a bud, branch, thorn, or flower; sometimes with lateral, basal appendages (stipules); either simple (toothed, lobed, or dissected but not divided into leaflets) or compound (divided into leaflets).

generally lanceolate, sickle-shaped; calyx expanding in fruit; SnBr ..... P. dolichantha

5' Corolla tube 9–35(39) mm; leaf lance-linear to -ovate, not sickle-shaped; calyx not expanding in fruit; GB, DMtns ..... P. stansburyi

6. Stems generally not woody (few lower ± woody); plants together; open pinyon/juniper woodland ..... subsp. stansburyi

6' Stems generally woody; plants spaced; sagebrush scrub

7. Corolla tube 18–39 mm; 

internodes 

Segment of an axis (generally a stem) between successive positions (nodes) from which one or more structures (especially leaves, buds, branches, or flowers) arise.

generally not evenly spaced; leaves generally not equal in length ..... subsp. superba

7' Corolla tube generally 8.5–19 mm; internodes evenly spaced; leaves generally equal in length ..... var. brevifolia

1' Plant dense, ± matted to cushion-like; flowers generally 1–5 per inflorescence

8. Stigmas ± = style; plant from long rhizomes – leaves in widely spaced clusters; s SNH (Tulare, Inyo cos.) ..... P. dispersa

8' Stigmas << style; plant from short rhizomes with stems clumped

9. Plant tightly cushion-like (generally difficult to determine on dried specimens); leaf generally < 4 mm

10. Leaves coarsely 

ciliate 

Having generally straight, conspicuous hairs along margins or edges.

, hairy, not overlapped; SNH, SnBr, SNE ..... P. condensata

10' Leaves not coarsely ciliate, densely long-woolly-hairy, overlapped; CaRH (Loomis Peak) ..... P. muscoides

9' Plant ± matted to cushion-like but not tightly cushion-like; leaf generally > 4 mm

11. Glandular hairs generally present

12. Glandular hairs on herbage; c SNH, GB ..... P. douglasii

12' Glandular hairs generally on calyx; SNH, SNE ..... P. pulvinata

11' Glandular hairs 0

13. Leaf sharp-tipped; calyx membrane low-keeled at base; SnGb, SnBr, PR ..... P. austromontana

13' Leaf not sharp-tipped; calyx membrane generally not keeled; California (except D)

14. Leaf generally ± glabrous except base white-woolly ..... P. diffusa

14' Leaf generally hairy ..... P. hoodii subsp. canescens

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