1306 



PHLOMIS 



PHLOX 



A. Fls. yellow. 

 B. Plants shrnbbi/: bracts 7tot sharp and rigid at the 

 apex. 

 c. TTIiorls 20-SO-nd. 

 Irutic63a, Linn. Shrub, 2-4 ft. high, divaricately 

 mucli-brauflied: Ivs. rounded or wedge-.shaped at the 

 base: bracts broadly ovate or ovate-lanceolate. S. Eu. 

 B.M. 1843. — In the East it blooms from June to July. 

 In S. Calif., according to Franceschi, it blooms in win- 

 ter, and has the merits of withstanding drought and 

 heavy sea winds. In New England it needs protection 

 in winter. 



cc. \\niorls about IC-fld. 



yiscdsa, Poir. Lvs. truncate or subcordate at the base: 



bracts lanceolate-linear. Syria. Not in the trade, but 



inserted to show the differences l)etween this and P. 



Musselliana as recognized by DeCandolle. 



BB. Plants herbaceous: bracts very sharp and rigid at 



the apex. 



Rueselli&na, Lag. Herb, 3-5 ft. high: lowest lvs. 



dee)ily cordate: whorls 40-50-fld. Syria, B.M. 2542 (as 



P. lunarifolia, var. Eusselliana), 



A A. Fls. purple. 

 tuberdsa, Linn. Herb, 3-5 ft. high: Ivs. deeply cor- 

 date; lowest ones 6 in. or more long; floral lvs. 2-3 in. 

 long, 6-8 lines wide: whorls .30-40-fld. S. Eu., eastern 

 and northern Asia. B.M. l.Wo. -^ jl^ 



1758. Quedlinbure or Star Phlox. 



A horticultural form of Phlox Drummondii. 

 Natural size. 



FHL6X (Greek for flame, once applied to species of 

 Lychnis). Polemonidcea. Phloxes are amongst the most 

 satisfactory of garden plants. Their neat habit, bright- 

 colored flowers, profuseness of bloom, and ease of cul- 

 ture make them favorites everywhere. The Phloxes are 

 herbs, of about 30 species all North American (except 

 perhaps one Chilean), although P. Sibirica also grows 

 in Asiatic Russia. There are two classes of Phloxes, 

 the annuals and the perennials. The annuals are deriva- 

 tives of Phlox Drummondii, of Texas, which has now 

 riseu to first place as a garden annual. It has been im- 

 mensely modified by domestication, so that the named 

 gar<len varieties are numbered by scores. These garden 

 forms differ in stature, color, size and shape of flower. 

 Some are semi-double. An effort has been made to pro- 

 duce a yellow flower, but nothing nearer than a butf has 

 yet been secured. The Phlox colors run to the cyanic 

 series, and it is pmlialile tliat a pure yellow is unattain- 

 al)le. Phlox l>rnnni>on<lii is of the easiest culture. 

 This fact, togetlier with the profusion and long season 



of its bloom, is an important reason fur its ]"ipularity. 

 It needs a warm, sunny place. It will l'tuw even in, 

 poor soil, but in order to develop to iis jjiulu >i jitTfec- 

 tion it must have rich soil and the individual plants 

 must be given room ( say 1 ft. apart each way ) . Seeds are 

 usually sown in the open as soon as tlie weather is 

 settled ; sometimes they are sown indoors, but the plants 

 bloom so young that tliis is rarely practiced. If the 

 groun<l is jioor and dry, tlif i^lauts usually cease bloom- 

 ing Ijy iiiidsumnur, but if jdant-food and moisture are 

 abundant tliey may be expected to continue their bloom 

 until late fall. 



The perennial Phloxes comprise many species. P. 

 paniciilata and P. maculata have given rise to the 

 common perennial Phloxes, whereas most of the other 

 species are planted sparingly and have not been greatly 

 modified by domestication. The garden perennial Phlox 

 (of the P. paninilata and P. maculata type) is 

 amongst the most showy of garden herbs. The terminal 

 panicles have become 1 ft. long in some forms, and as 

 densely filled as a hydrangea. The colors are most fre- 

 quent in reds, but there are many purple, white, salmon 

 and parti-colored varieties. This perennial Phlox should 

 have a rich and rather moist soil if it is to be grown to 

 perfection. Let each clump h.ave a space, when fully de- 

 veloped, of 2-3 ft. across. The plants as purchased from 

 nurseries usually do not come into full floriferousness 

 until their third or fourth y<*ar. They will continue to 

 thrive for several yi-ars wirii iitti.- aTti-ntion, as is at- 

 tested by the fine clumps ..[ ol.l l:t^liii>ii.-d forms about 

 homesteads. For tlie Iml^ImsI sal islaciion in blooms, 

 however, the plants sh<.)uld lie ri-l;ttivL-ly yoiing or at 

 least often renewed by dividing the clump. The stool 

 gradually enlarges outwards. From the young, vigor- 

 ous shoots on the outside of the clump the new plants 

 should be reared, if one desires to propagate the variety 

 to any extent. Old stools should be taken up every year 

 or two, and divided and transplanted. This work is 

 done in the fall, after the growth has ceased. By this 

 process, the idaiits do nut Itecome weak and root-bound. 

 Inferior and \ii,Mir"us si-edlings are often allowed to 

 grow about the old plant, causing the named varieties 

 to "run out." The perennial Phloxes usually bloom in 

 early summer, but if the tips of the shoots are pinched 

 out once or twice in ejirly summer, the bloom may be 

 delayed until late sunitjier or fall. 



Phlox is allied to (iilia and Polemonium. Some 

 species are more or less shruliby at the base. The 

 corolla is salverform, the loljes 5 and mostly obtuse, 

 the throat narrow or nearly closed. The stamens are 5 

 and inserted on the corolla-tube, the anthers usually in- 

 cluded in the tube. The fruit is a small capsule with 

 3 locules and few to several small usually fiattish seeds. 

 Leaves mostly opposite (upper ones sometimes alter- 

 nate), entire. See Gray, Syn. Fl. vol. ii, pt. 1, p. 129. 



A. Annual garden Phlox, pubescent, upper Irs. often 

 alternate. 

 1. Drummondii, Hook. Figs. 1758-60. Erect, branch- 

 ing, 6-18 in. tall : lvs. oblong-acute or lanceolate, the 

 upper ones more or less clasping: fls. showy, iu broad 

 mostly flat-topped cymes, the calyx-lobes long and nar- 

 row and spreading or recurving in fruit, the corolla- 

 lobes broad -obovate. Texas. B.M. 3441. B.R. 23:1949. 

 — This is the common annual garden Phlox, now culti- 

 vated in numerous varieties, some of them having 

 deeply cut petals (the "star" Phloxes). Fig. 1758. The 

 seeds were received in England in the spring of 1835, 



