Phlox bifida L. C. Beck
Family: Polemoniaceae
Cleft Phlox
Phlox bifida image

Stems suffruticose, prostrate or ascending, with several stiff, ascending or erect flowering branches 1-3 dm; internodes mostly 2-5 cm; lvs stiff, linear to narrowly lanceolate, 1.5-4 cm, 1-nerved, seldom with axillary fascicles; cymes few-fld; cor pale blue-violet, varying to white, 14-20 mm wide, its lobes notched a fourth to half their length; style elongate; 2n=14. Dry sandy soil and rock- ledges; s. Mich. and s. Wis. to Tenn., n. Ark., and Kans. Apr., May. Typical plants have glandular-hairy infl; plants with eglandular or even glabrous infl occur more locally, especially in Ky. and Tenn., and have been called var. cedaria (Brand) Fernald. (P. stellaria)

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

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