POLEMONIUM FAMILY 



POLEMONIACEAE 



PRAIRIE PHLOX 



Phlox pilosa L. 



The Polemonium family is noted for its large proportion of 

 beautiful flowers, many of which are cultivated in gardens and 

 greenhouses. Its members are distributed nearly all over the 



world but are especially nu- 

 merous in western North 

 America. The Phlox are pol- 

 linated largely by certain 

 butterflies. 



No plant adds color to the 

 patches of prairie along rail- 

 roads and other waste places 

 or open grassy areas in wood- 

 land, more effectively than 

 does the Prairie Phlox. It is' 

 found from Connecticut to 

 Ontario and Manitoba, south 

 to Florida and Texas, bloom- 

 ing from May to July. 



The plant is i-2 feet high 

 and produces large clusters 

 of pink or purple, faintly 

 fragrant flowers. Stem and 

 leaves are covered with 

 soft hairs and the 

 flowers are protected 

 from unwelcome creep- 

 ing insects by sticky 

 glands which cover the 

 calyx. The calyx lobes 

 are longer than the tube. 

 Rarely specimens are found with white flowers. 



The Smooth Phlox, Phlox glaherrima L., is quite similar but 

 taller, 1-3 feet high, and grows in wet as well as dry places. It is 

 smooth or nearly so throughout and has rather firm leaves that are 

 long pointed at. the tip and narrowed at the base. The calyx teeth 

 are usually shorter than the tube. The corolla is pink or whitish 

 and the lobes are entire or sometimes broadly notched at the end. 

 This is an excellent species for perennial gardens. 



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