Phlox (ˈflɒks "flocks": Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 φλόξ "flame"; plural "phlox" or "phloxes", Greek φλόγες phlóges) is a genus of 67 species of perennial

Perennial plant

A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...

 and annual

Annual plant

An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates, flowers, and dies in a year or season. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed...

 plants

Flowering plant

The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...

 found mostly in North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 (one in Siberia

Siberia

Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...

) in diverse habitats from alpine tundra

Alpine tundra

Alpine tundra is a natural region that does not contain trees because it is at high altitude. Alpine tundra is distinguished from arctic tundra, because alpine soils are generally better drained than arctic soils...

 to open woodland

Woodland

Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...

 and prairie

Prairie

Prairies are considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the dominant vegetation type...

. Some flower in spring

Spring (season)

Spring is one of the four temperate seasons, the transition period between winter and summer. Spring and "springtime" refer to the season, and broadly to ideas of rebirth, renewal and regrowth. The specific definition of the exact timing of "spring" varies according to local climate, cultures and...

, others in summer

Summer

Summer is the warmest of the four temperate seasons, between spring and autumn. At the summer solstice, the days are longest and the nights are shortest, with day-length decreasing as the season progresses after the solstice...

 and autumn

Autumn

Autumn is one of the four temperate seasons. Autumn marks the transition from summer into winter usually in September or March when the arrival of night becomes noticeably earlier....

.

Flower

Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...

s may be pale blue, violet, pink, bright red, or white. Many are fragrant

Aroma compound

An aroma compound, also known as odorant, aroma, fragrance or flavor, is a chemical compound that has a smell or odor...

.

Fertilized flowers typically produce one relatively large seed

Seed

A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...

. The fruit is a longitudinally dehiscent

Dehiscence (botany)

Dehiscence is the opening, at maturity, in a pre-defined way, of a plant structure, such as a fruit, anther, or sporangium, to release its contents. Sometimes this involves the complete detachment of a part. Structures that open in this way are said to be dehiscent...

 capsule with three valves that sometimes separate explosively.

Some species such as P. paniculata (Garden Phlox) grow upright, while others such as P. subulata (Steak Phlox) grow short and matlike.

The foliage of Phlox is sometimes eaten by the larva

Larva

A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...

e of some Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera is a large order of insects that includes moths and butterflies . It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...

 species including Dot Moth

Dot Moth

The Dot Moth is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found throughout Europe apart from the south-east.This is a very distinctive species with very dark brown, almost black, forewings marked with a large white stigma from which the species gets its common name. The hindwings are grey with a dark...

, Gazoryctra wielgusi

Gazoryctra

Gazoryctra is a genus of moths of the family Hepialidae. There are 14 described species found in Eurasia, Canada and the United States.- Species :*Gazoryctra chishimana - Kuril Islands*Gazoryctra confusus - USA...

, Hummingbird Hawk-moth and Schinia indiana

Schinia

Schinia, commonly called Flower Moths, is a large genus of moths belonging to the family Noctuidae. The genus has a Holarctic distribution with the vast majority of species being found in North America, many with a very restricted range and larval food plant.-Species Information and Food Plants:...

(which feeds exclusively on P. pilosa). Phlox species are also a popular food source for groundhog

Groundhog

The groundhog , also known as a woodchuck, whistle-pig, or in some areas as a land-beaver, is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots. Other marmots, such as the yellow-bellied and hoary marmots, live in rocky and mountainous areas, but...

s, rabbit

Rabbit

Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...

s and deer

Deer

Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...

.

Phlox can be propagated

Plant propagation

Plant propagation is the process of creating new plants from a variety of sources: seeds, cuttings, bulbs and other plant parts. Plant propagation can also refer to the artificial or natural dispersal of plants.-Sexual propagation :...

 from stem cuttings.

Species

There are 67 species, including:

Phlox adsurgens Phlox adsurgens Phlox adsurgens is a species of phlox known by the common names northern phlox and woodland phlox. It is native to Oregon and a section of the northern Coast Ranges of California, where it is a member of the flora in forested and wooded mountain habitat. It is a perennial herb growing decumbent... Northern phlox, Periwinkle phlox, Woodland phlox Phlox alyssifolia Phlox alyssifolia Phlox alyssifolia, or alyssum-leaved phlox, is a flowering plant in the genus Phlox. It is native to central North America.-Range and habitat:... Alyssumleaf phlox Phlox amplifolia Largeleaf phlox Phlox andicola Moss phlox, Plains phlox, Prairie phlox Phlox austromontana Phlox austromontana Phlox austromontana is a species of phlox known by the common name mountain phlox. It is native to the southwestern United States and Baja California, where it grows in forested and wooded mountain habitat, scrub, and open areas. It is a mat-forming perennial herb growing in patches of very short... Mountain phlox Phlox bifida Cleft phlox Phlox borealis Phlox bryoides Phlox buckleyi Swordleaf phlox Phlox caespitosa Phlox caespitosa Phlox caespitosa is a species of phlox known by the common name tufted phlox. It is native to western North America from British Columbia through the Great Basin to New Mexico, where it grows in scrub, woodland, and other open plateau habitat. It is a mat-forming perennial] [Herbaceous plant|herb... Cushion phlox Phlox carolina Carolina phlox, Thickleaf phlox Phlox condensata Phlox condensata Phlox condensata is a species of phlox known by the common name dwarf phlox. It is native to the western United States including eastern California, Nevada, and Colorado, where it grows in rocky, mountainous areas. It is a very compact mat-forming perennial herb growing in patches often less than a... Dwarf phlox Phlox cuspidata Pointed phlox Phlox diffusa Phlox diffusa Phlox diffusa is a species of phlox known by the common name spreading phlox. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to the southwestern United States to the Dakotas, where it grows in many types of habitat, including rocky, high elevation mountain slopes... Mat phlox, Spreading phlox Phlox divaricata Phlox divaricata Phlox divaricata is a herbaceous perennial valued for its lavender-blue flowers, native to forests and fields in eastern North America.-Description:... Blue phlox, Woodland Phlox, Louisiana phlox, Sweet william Phlox dolichantha Phlox dolichantha Phlox dolichantha is a species of phlox known by the common name Big Bear Valley phlox. It is endemic to San Bernardino County, California, where it is limited to the area around Big Bear in the San Bernardino Mountains. It grows in forests and the unique local pebble plain habitat. It occurs at... Big Bear Valley phlox Phlox douglasii Phlox drummondii Phlox drummondii Phlox drummondii is a flowering plant in the genus Phlox. This plant is native to Texas, but is widely distributed in the southeastern United States, especially along public highways. P. drummondii is often used as an ornamental plant. According to J. P... Drummond phlox, Annual phlox Phlox floridana Florida phlox Phlox glaberrima Marsh phlox, Smooth phlox Phlox glabriflora Phlox glabriflora Phlox glabriflora is an annual species of Phlox found in southern Texas. It is commonly called Rio Grande Phlox.... Rio Grande phlox Phlox hirsuta Phlox hirsuta Yreka phlox is a species of phlox. It is a small flowering plant that grows in the serpentine soils of Siskiyou County, California and is the official city flower of Yreka, California, after which it is named.-Description:Yreka phlox plants grow to a height of up to six inches, with thick hairy... Yreka phlox Phlox hoodii Carpet phlox, Spiny phlox Phlox idahonis Idaho phlox

Phlox kelseyi Kelsey's phlox Phlox latifolia Mountain phlox, Wideflower phlox Phlox longifolia Longleaf phlox Phlox maculata Meadow phlox, Phlox, Wild sweet William Phlox mesoleuca Threadleaf phlox Phlox missoulensis Missoula phlox Phlox mollis Soft phlox Phlox multiflora Flowery phlox, Rocky Mountain phlox Phlox nana Canyon phlox, Santa Fe phlox, White-eyed phlox Phlox nivalis Phlox nivalis Phlox nivalis is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common name trailing phlox. It is native to the southeastern United States.... Trailing phlox Phlox ovata Mountain phlox Phlox paniculata Phlox paniculata Phlox paniculata is a plant in the phlox family, Polemoniaceae. It is native to eastern United States, but has been extensively cultivated for many years, with many cultivars.-Description:... Garden Phlox, Fall phlox, Perennial phlox Phlox pilosa Phlox pilosa Phlox pilosa is an herbaceous perennial in the family Polemoniaceae. It is native to North America.-Description:... Downy phlox, Fragrant phlox, Prairie phlox Phlox pulchra Alabama phlox Phlox pulvinata Phlox pulvinata Phlox pulvinata is a species of phlox known by the common name cushion phlox. It is native to the western United States where it grows in mountain and plateau habitat, in rocky subalpine and alpine climates, including exposed tundra habitat. It is a perennial herb taking a flat, dense, cushionlike... Cushion phlox Phlox roemeriana Goldeneye phlox Phlox sibirica Siberian phlox Phlox speciosa Phlox speciosa Phlox speciosa is a species of phlox known by the common name showy phlox. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to Arizona and New Mexico, where it occurs in sagebrush, pine woodlands, and mountain forests. It is an erect perennial herb with a shrubby base growing up to about... Showy phlox, Woodhouse's phlox Phlox stansburyi Cold-desert phlox Phlox stolonifera Phlox stolonifera Phlox stolonifera is a herbaceous perennial plant spreading by stolons, native to woodland in the Appalachian Mountains from Pennsylvania south to northern Georgia.... Creeping phlox Phlox subulata Phlox subulata Phlox subulata is a perennial creeper growing to a height of 6 inches and covering a area. The small, five-petaled flowers bloom in rose, mauve, blue, white, or pink in late spring to early summer... Moss phlox, Rock pink Phlox tenuifolia Santa Catalina Mountain phlox

Cultivation

Several species of phlox are commonly cultivated in gardens. Most cultivated phlox, with the notable exception of Drummond phlox

Phlox drummondii

Phlox drummondii is a flowering plant in the genus Phlox. This plant is native to Texas, but is widely distributed in the southeastern United States, especially along public highways. P. drummondii is often used as an ornamental plant. According to J. P...

, are perennial. Phlox cultivars are available in shades of white, purple, blue, pink, and yellow. Most are best grown in well-drained soil, exposed to partial shade to partial sun. Phlox are valued in the garden for their ability to attract butterflies.