Field Book of Western Wild Flowers

by Margaret Armstrong; J. J. Thornber

There are many kinds of Phlox, natives of North America and Asia, usually perennials, the leaves toothless, mostly opposite, at least the lower ones; the calyx five-ribbed; the corolla salver-form; the stamens inserted very unequally in the tube and not protruding; the seeds not mucilaginous. The salver-form corolla and the seeds not being mucilaginous distinguishes Phlox from Gilia. The name is from the Greek, meaning "flame."

Alpine Phlox
Phlóx Douglásii
White, lilac
Summer
Northwest, etc.

A charming little plant, with woody stems a few inches tall and partly creeping along the ground, densely crowded with numerous needle-like leaves, forming dull green, cushion-like mats, sometimes over a foot across and suggesting some sort of prickly moss. These prickly cushions are sprinkled thickly all over with pretty lilac flowers and the effect is most attractive. The flowers vary in tint from white to pink and purple and are nearly three-quarters of an inch across and slightly sweet-scented. The tube is longer than the hairy calyx, and the petals fold back in fading. This grows on gravelly slopes and summits around Yosemite and in the Northwest, from the Rocky Mountains to Nebraska, and its patches of pale color are often conspicuous in dry rocky places, or in open forests, at an altitude of three to seven thousand feet.

Linanthus liniflorus.
Alpine Phlox—Phlox Douglasii.
Ground Pink—Linanthus dianthiflorus.

Wild Sweet William
Phlóx longifòlia
Pink
Spring, summer, autumn
West, etc.

Very attractive common flowers, with many stems, three to eight inches high, from a woody base. The leaves are smooth or somewhat downy, stiffish, pale gray-green and rather harsh, and the flowers are over three-quarters of an inch across, clear pink, of various shades from deep-pink to white, with an angled calyx. Only two yellow stamens show in the throat and the style is long and slender. This grows on hills and in valleys, as far east as Colorado, and its pretty flowers are very gay and charming, particularly when growing in large clumps in fields or beside the road. P. Stánsburyi, common on the plateau in the Grand Canyon, blooming in May, is similar, but has sticky hairs on the calyx.

There are many kinds of Gilia, variable and not easily distinguished; the leaves nearly always alternate and thus differing from Linanthus; the corolla funnel-form, tubular, or bell-shaped, but, unlike Phlox, rarely salver-form and the seeds are usually mucilaginous when wet. These plants were named for Gil, a Spanish botanist.

Scarlet Gilia, Skyrocket
Gília aggregàta
Red
Spring, summer, autumn
Southwest, Utah, etc.

A brilliant biennial or perennial plant, varying in general form and color. In Utah it is somewhat coarse and usually has a single, leafy, roughish, rather sticky stem, from one to two feet tall, purplish towards the top, and thickish, somewhat sticky leaves, deeply lobed and cut, in a cluster at the root and alternate along the stem, dull bluish-green in color, smooth on the under side, with more or less sparse woolly down on the upper side, as if partially rubbed off. The flowers have no pedicels, or very short ones, and form small clusters in the angles of the leaves along the upper part of the stem, but are mainly at the top, in a large, handsome, somewhat flat-topped, loose cluster. They are each more than half an inch across, with a corolla of clear scarlet, the lobes shading at base to white, finely streaked with crimson and prettily fringed at the tips. The stamens are equally or unequally inserted in the corolla throat, the buds are prettily twisted and fringed at the tips and usually have a dark purplish calyx. Sometimes the flowers are all scattered along the stalk, making a wand of bloom. This grows on mountain sides and sometimes has a very disagreeable smell, hence the local name of Polecat Plant. In Yosemite it is much more delicate in character, with several, smooth or downy, reddish, leafy stems, from one to four feet high, from a branched base, bearing very graceful clusters of flowers, the petals of various shades of scarlet, pink, and crimson, often streaked with white, or yellowish dotted with red, their long points curled back. Often the buds are scarlet and the flowers pink, giving a very vivid effect. The protruding stamens are inserted in the notches between the lobes of the corolla, with red or pink filaments and yellow or purple anthers. This has the look of a hothouse flower and is very beautiful and striking when growing in masses in high mountain woods. This has several common names which are very misleading, such as Wild Cypress and Wild Honeysuckle. There are several named varieties. It grows in the Southwest and also from British Columbia to New Mexico.