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Wild Phlox
Wild Phlox (Phlox longifolia) is a delightful low plant
(about six inches high) with small gray green leaves, often in patches of
pink that delight the eye.
Dixie Rose, in her book "Utah's Intermountain Wildflowers", describes it as follows:
"A gem of the family. Low needle-like leaves in mats. Profuse blossoms
have a bell shaped calyx, and a half inch, narrow tubed corolla with five
spreading lobes. Pink tones, light or deeper. Sometimes wrongly called
Sweet William. Early summer on most hills. White Phlox (P. hoodi),
similar, is more plentiful in central Utah on rocky flats and ridges.
An even prettier central Utah species, (P. austromontana), is
pink lobed and white centered."
In "Mountain Plants of Northeastern Utah", a publication from Utah State
University, it states: "Wild Phlox is a low branching perennial with a
creeping rootstock and opposite leaves. The leaves are gray green, soft
to the touch, and lightly pubescent. It grows on our open foothills,
wherever the soil is relatively lime-free. It frequently occurs in large,
compact patches and in May produces myriads of clear pink or sometimes
white blossoms.
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