Phlox longifolia

Long-leaf Phlox

Polemoniaceae (Phlox family)

P. longifolia, with bright white to deep-pink flowers, jumps out at you from the often drab ground it grows on. You'll find it mostly at mid elevations -- 1,000 - 2,000 m (3,000 - 7,000 feet) -- in the western third of Colorado, and a few patches in the mountain parks and southeastern prairie.

That range, and a few other features, help distinguish it from some similar members of the genus.

This is a typical setting for P. longifolia: an open area that's dry and rocky. The plants are sparse, which distinguishes them from other Phlox species that form dense mats.

Flowers

If you look at the calyx you can see the white intercostal membrane between the green sepal lobes. Notice that it's bulging outward and has a keel-like ridge running down the middle. That keeled intercostal membrane helps distinguish P. longifolia from other species of Phlox.

The flowers are on pedicels (stems). They're long tubes that divide into 5 lobes. The tubes are about 10 - 15 mm long. The lobes are obovate, meaning egg-shaped with the pointy end toward the center and vary from white to pink, or a little of both.

Leaves

Weber says the leaves are usually 2.5 cm or longer. They're narrow -- linear to linear-lanceolate -- and hairy.

Stems

Each flower has 1 to 3 or more erect or ascending stems that range from 10 to 30 or more cm tall. They often have hairs on the upper end. The stems are sometimes suffrutescent, meaning they can be woody and survive the winter.