Phlox austromontana
Piute Peak, Kern Co. CNPS Chapter Field Trip
June 1, 2013

Phlox austromontana
Utah—Great Basin Desert-Plateaus. Fish Lake NF: Wayne/Piute Co.: Summit west of Loa, ~40 miles north of Torrey on north side of Hwy 24; 38º27'08.0", 111º49.31.5", 2563 m.  Subalpine sagebrush meadow. Caespitose perennial, flowers white tinged rose; frequent under sagebrush where less grazed. Richard Spjut & Paul Burchstead 16370, 23 June 2008

Phlox austromontana

Nevada. Toiyabe Range. South of Austin along Robinson Creek, 4x4 road to Birch Creek Ranch, which is at junction with Road 376, ~3.5 mi south of Frontier, Hwy 50. 10 July 2009

Phlox diffusa
Kern Co., CA. just below summit
of Mt Pinos. 22 June 2016

Phlox diffusa
Rocky forested slopes above Cliff Lake
Marble Mountain Wilderness, CA
June 1970

Phlox gladiformis
Garfield Co., Utah. Dixie NF: Bryce Canyon region, west of the National Park, Red Cap Road; 37º45'02.9", 112º16.11.7", 2151 m.   Ponderosa pine woodland.
June 25, 2008

Phlox longifolia
S Wyoming, June 2005

Phlox hoodii
Monitor Range, NV
9 July 2000

Phlox pulvinata
Great Basin Desert-Bonneville
Basin Region. Millard Co.
Confusion Range, north side of Hwy 50,
~92 miles west of Delta; 39º04'42.7",
113º43.08.9", 1716 m.  Limestone-
sandstone outcrops in pinyon-juniper zone.
22 June 2008.

Phlox speciosa
Siskiyou Co., Garry Oak Woodland,
2800 ft, 15 mi NE of Yreka
Photo by Susan Spjut, May 2006

Phlox stansburyi
Mojave Desert, Mid Hills,
Spjut 3352, 7 May 1973  

Phlox stansburyi
Nye Co., Sylvania Mts., NV,
SPJ 16285, 6 May 2008

Trees and Shrubs of Kern County (Jan 2013, Jan 2014)

Phlox. Annuals, perennials or subshrubs; leaves simple, crowded along the stems or in subshrub species often clustered near apex; flowers terminal, generally single (from reduced cymes); stamens inserted at different levels in the corolla tube; valves of capsule deciduous. ±50 species, mostly western North America, also northern Asia.

1. Leaves soft, flexuous, not sharp at tip............................................. Phlox stansburyi

1. Leaves rigid, needle-like, ending in a sharp point.........................................................2

2. Calyx flat more than rib-like, not keeled near base; calyx tube with
cobweb like hairs between the green nerves; leaf tips pungent but not 
extending into needle-like point (not acerose)................................... . Phlox diffusa

2. Calyx rib-like or keeled, especially near base; calyx tube not
cobwebby; leaf tips with a short needle extension (acerose)....Phlox austromontana

Phlox austromontana Coville 1893. Desert Phlox. Generally matted perennial with woody stems near base, to 10 cm; leaves sword-shaped, 5–7x longer than wide, 0.8–2 cm long, gradually narrowed to apex and usually with a short hyaline needle-like extension (apiculus); flowers Apr–Jun, usually white, less often pink or pale blue, (8-)11–15 mm. Generally in partially shaded understory of open montane pine forests; Great Basin Desert from Colorado west to central Oregon, south at scattered locations along Sierra Nevada to northern Baja California, also Arizona.  Type from Beaver Dam Mts., Washington Co. Utah. Kern Co.: “Colonies are scarce in the rocks along the crest of Piute Mountains” [Twisselmann, var. subcarinata with reference to P. douglasii), 2287–2502 m (CCH).  Also reported by C. Millar and T. Keeler-Wolf from the Long Canyon Natural Research Natural Area.

Phlox diffusa Bentham 1870 [includes ssp. subcarinata Wherry 1939]. White Phlox. Generally matted perennial with woody stems near base, to 10 cm; leaves sword-shaped, 5–7x longer than wide, 0.5–2 cm long, gradually narrowed to apex; flowers May–Aug, white to pink or pale blue, 9–17 mm. Generally in partially shaded understory of open montane pine forests, western U.S. and southwestern British Columbia.  Type from near Bear Valley in the Sacramento Mts., Calif. Kern Co.: “A matted plant of exposed high elevations that grows in colorful drifts on the broad open summit plateau of Mt. Pinos. Colonies are scarce in the rocks along the crest of Piute Mountains” [Twisselmann, var. subcarinata with reference to P. douglasii, which is interpreted here as P. austromontana), 2287–2502 m (CCH).

Phlox stansburyi (Phlox speciosa Pursh 1814 f. stansburyi Torrey 1859) Heller 1897 var. superba (Phlox superba A. Brand 1907) Wherry 1942.  Stanbury’s Phlox. Perennial, compact, often branched below ground, to 40 cm high; flowers Apr–Jun, pink to white, 17–25 mm; disturbed roadside, Pinyon-Juniper woodland, Great Basin Desert, 1700–3000 m.  Type from Tonopah, Nye Co., Nevada. Kern Co.: 1.9 miles east of the summit of Walker Pass (Raven, 03 May 1958, CCH).