Al Schneider's Rocky Mountains Plant Descriptions

Spiny Phlox
Phlox hoodii
Phlox family (Polemoniaceae)

Moss Phlox is common in sagebrush and is one of the first plants to bloom in the spring. It is very difficult to distinguish this species from Southern Mountain Phlox (P. austromontana) which often grows quite near it. Another species growing near these two, Longleaf Phlox (Phlox longifolia) spreads in carpets many feet long and the plant is taller than Moss or Southern Mountain Phlox with longer, far more widely spaced long leaves, and often pink flowers.


©2009 Matt Lavin

Description

Small, compact , 2-6" tall, forms mats. Flowers are white-pink or blue with 5 broad flat-spreading , mostly solitary at end of stems. Leaves are , , firm, and sharp-pointed. Overall plant woolly and cobweb-hairy with dense, overlapping leaves. are splitting along 3 lines.

Field Marks

Low mat-forming plant with white flowers and very dense clusters of needle-like leaves.

© Al Schneider

A perennial plant lives and blooms for many years.

lobe -- A rounded parts of a leaf (or other organ).

capsule -- a type of simple, dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. In most cases the capsule splits apart to release seeds.

fruit -- any seed-bearing structure in flowering plants. It is formed from the ovary after flowering.

In an opposite leaf arrangement the leaves come in pairs with one leaf on each side of a stem.

elliptic -- Oval, with no point or a very short point.

linear -- Long and very narrow like a blade of grass.