PLANT: Perennial with 1-4 stems from a deep seated rhizome, sometimes suffrutescent; stems 6-15 cm tall, the lower internodes evident.

LEAVES: linear-oblong to narrowly lanceolate, flat, acute to obtuse, glandular and short villous, 1.5-4 cm long, 3-5 mm wide.

INFLORESCENCE: flowers 2-3, pedicelled; pedicels glandular, short villous.

FLOWERS: calyx 7-9 mm long, the membrane flat; corolla usually bright pink, the tube 10-15 mm long, the lobes 6-10 mm long, retuse to emarginate; stamens inserted on the mid tube; stigmas located well below the stamens.

NOTES: Open sites, shrubland, coniferous forest and woodland: Apache, Coconino, Gila, Navajo, Yavapai cos.; 1200-2450 m (4000-8000 ft); Apr-Jun(-Sep); AZ to nw NM.

REFERENCES: Dieter H. Wilken and J. Mark Porter, 2005, Vascular Plants of Arizona: Polemoniaceae. CANOTIA 1: 1-37.

Duration: Perennial

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Subshrub

General: Suffrutescent perennials, to 15 cm tall, stems 1-4, the lower internodes evident, herbage villous throughout and glandular in the inflorescence, arising from a deep seated rhizome.

Leaves: Linear to narrowly-oblong, 1.5-4 cm long, 3-5 mm wide, thick, sometimes flattened, acute to obtuse at the tips, surfaces glandular and short villous.

Flowers: Showy and bright pink, salverform, corolla tubes 10-15 mm long, the lobes 6-10 mm long, with a deep notch at the rounded apex, calyx 7-9 mm long, with a flat membrane, stamens inserted midway on the tube, stigmas located well below the stamens, styles shorter than the calyx, inflorescences cymose, flowers borne in groups of 2-3, pedicels glandular, short villous.

Fruits: Capsule, longitudinally dehiscent.

Ecology: Found in open sites, on rocky slopes, shrublands, coniferous forest and open woodlands, from 3,500-8,000 ft (1067-2438 m); flowering April-September.

Distribution: Arizona, New Mexico.

Notes: This species looks very similar to a (pink) Verbena at first glance, look to the sticky, rounded stems to help differentiate. McDougall notes that good identifiers for this species are the thick, oblong, acute to obtuse-tipped leaves and bright pink flowers with deeply notched corolla lobes. (The deeply notched lobes help identify this species from the similar P. longifolia subsp. brevifolia, which has subentire corolla lobes).

Ethnobotany: There is no use recorded for this species, but other species in this genus have uses.

Etymology: Phlox comes from the Greek name phlomis, for some plant possibly not of this genus, while speciosa means showy, while woodhousei is named for S.W. Woodhouse and American horticulturalist.

Synonyms: Phlox speciosa subsp. woodhousei

Editor: LCrumbacher 2012