Phlox andicola E. Nels. 



Polemoniaceae 



Plains phlox 



A. Description 



1. General description: Herbaceous perennial with numerous 

 fertile stems less than 10 cm (3.9 in) long, forming compact 

 mounds. The narrow leaves are 2 mm (.08 in) wide or less, but 

 10-25 mm (.4-. 98 in) long. The white flower has corolla lobes 

 6-8 mm (.24-. 31 in) long (from Great Plains Flora Association 

 1986). Flowering is in June. 



2. Technical description: Rhizomatous, cespitose perennial, 

 4-10(12) cm tall. Fertile shoots solitary or branching near 

 the base, erect to decumbent, with 5-8(10) nodes, the 

 herbaceous stems puberulent to arachnoid-pubescent. Blades 

 linear to subulate, 10-25(30) mm long, 1-2 mm wide, nearly 

 glabrous to pubescent or arachnoid-ciliolate proximally, the 

 midrib prominently thickened, the tips pungent to acerose. 

 Infloresence compact with 1-3(5) flowers; pedicels glabrous to 

 weekly pilose, subsessile to 2(5) mm long. Calyx 6-11 mm 

 long, arachnoid-pubescent along the margins of the lobes and 

 near the summit of the tube, the tube about 1/2-2/3 as long as 

 the calyx, the lobes subulate and pungent; corolla white, 

 tubes 6-13(17) mm long, lobes obovate, obtuse, 6-8(9) mm long, 

 4-6(7) mm wide, style 5-9 mm long (Great Plains Flora 

 Association 1986) . 



3. Diagnostic characteristics: The best characters are the 

 white hyaline internodes combined with narrow leaves that are 

 1 cm or more in length, and somewhat widely spaced along the 

 stem. P. hoodii has smaller leaves usually, which are more 

 closely spaced, and usually stiff or pungent. P. alyssifolia 

 has wider, thicker leaves, that have thickened margins. 



The most distinguishing characters are the linear to narrowly 

 lanceolate or oblanceolate leaves, many of them over 7X as 

 long as wide, with narrow, lanceolate bracts in the 

 inflorescence, usually glaucous appearing, and the plant being 

 completely glabrous. This serves to distinguish the species 

 in the study area even after the flowers have fallen. 



B. Present legal or other formal status 



1. Federal 



A. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: none 



B. U.S. Forest Service: none 



C. Bureau of Land Management: none 



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