Phlox divaricata, the wild blue phlox, woodland phlox, or wild sweet william, is a species of flowering plant in the family Polemoniaceae, native to forests and fields in eastern North America.
The species namedivaricata means "with a spreading and straggling habit".[1]
Descriptionedit
Wild blue phlox is a semi-evergreenperennial growing 25–50 cm (10–20 in) tall with opposite, unstalked, hairy leaves 2.5–5 cm (1–2 in) in length and ovate-lanceolate in shape. Flowers appear in late spring and early summer. They are pleasantly fragrant and 2–4 cm (3⁄4–1+1⁄2 in) in diameter, with five petals fused at the base into a thin tube.[2] The petals are a variety of pastel colors: blue-lavender, light purple, pink, or white. Flowers bloom March to May. It grows in moist, deciduous woods and bluffs.[3]
There are two subspecies: ssp. divaricata, with petals notched at the tip, and ssp. laphamii, without a notch.[4]
Ecologyedit
Wild blue phlox is most common in the climax successional stage of a community.[5] The flowers produce nectar at the base of the long, narrow corolla tube, and pollen near the end of the corolla tube. Only butterflies, moths, skippers, and long-tongued bees have long enough tongues to drink the nectar.[6] Short-tongued bees and flower flies are unable to reach the nectar, but may gather or feed on pollen.[7]
Phlox is self-incompatible, so it requires cross-pollination to produce seed. Butterflies are the most effective pollinators. As they insert their proboscis into the flower to drink nectar, it contacts the anthers and picks up pollen. As they coil the proboscis before moving to the next flower, most of the pollen falls off, but some remains to be transferred to the stigma of the next flower that they drink nectar from.[7]
Cultivationedit
Cultivated varieties have various colours, including blue ('Blue Moon'), lavender ('Clouds of Perfume') and white ('Fuller's White', 'White Perfume').
phlox, divaricata, wild, blue, phlox, woodland, phlox, wild, sweet, william, species, flowering, plant, family, polemoniaceae, native, forests, fields, eastern, north, america, conservation, statussecure, natureserve, scientific, classificationkingdom, plantae. Phlox divaricata the wild blue phlox woodland phlox or wild sweet william is a species of flowering plant in the family Polemoniaceae native to forests and fields in eastern North America Phlox divaricataConservation statusSecure NatureServe Scientific classificationKingdom PlantaeClade TracheophytesClade AngiospermsClade EudicotsClade AsteridsOrder EricalesFamily PolemoniaceaeGenus PhloxSpecies P divaricataBinomial namePhlox divaricataL Natural range in North America Contents 1 Etymology 2 Description 3 Ecology 4 Cultivation 5 Gallery 6 References 7 External linksEtymology editThe species name divaricata means with a spreading and straggling habit 1 Description editWild blue phlox is a semi evergreen perennial growing 25 50 cm 10 20 in tall with opposite unstalked hairy leaves 2 5 5 cm 1 2 in in length and ovate lanceolate in shape Flowers appear in late spring and early summer They are pleasantly fragrant and 2 4 cm 3 4 1 1 2 in in diameter with five petals fused at the base into a thin tube 2 The petals are a variety of pastel colors blue lavender light purple pink or white Flowers bloom March to May It grows in moist deciduous woods and bluffs 3 There are two subspecies ssp divaricata with petals notched at the tip and ssp laphamii without a notch 4 Ecology editWild blue phlox is most common in the climax successional stage of a community 5 The flowers produce nectar at the base of the long narrow corolla tube and pollen near the end of the corolla tube Only butterflies moths skippers and long tongued bees have long enough tongues to drink the nectar 6 Short tongued bees and flower flies are unable to reach the nectar but may gather or feed on pollen 7 Phlox is self incompatible so it requires cross pollination to produce seed Butterflies are the most effective pollinators As they insert their proboscis into the flower to drink nectar it contacts the anthers and picks up pollen As they coil the proboscis before moving to the next flower most of the pollen falls off but some remains to be transferred to the stigma of the next flower that they drink nectar from 7 Cultivation editCultivated varieties have various colours including blue Blue Moon lavender Clouds of Perfume and white Fuller s White White Perfume Phlox divaricata 8 and the lavender flowered cultivar Chattahoochee 9 have both won the Royal Horticultural Society s Award of Garden Merit 10 Gallery edit nbsp Flowers of P divaricata ssp divaricata with notched ends to the petals nbsp A blue form of P divaricata ssp divaricata nbsp Flowers of P divaricata ssp laphamii without notches on the end of the petals nbsp Large clump of P divaricata ssp laphamii nbsp Habitat in Florida nbsp Kansas Butler County AprilReferences edit Harrison Lorraine 2012 RHS Latin for gardeners United Kingdom Mitchell Beazley p 224 ISBN 978 1 84533 731 5 RHS A Z encyclopedia of garden plants United Kingdom Dorling Kindersley 2008 p 1136 ISBN 978 1 4053 3296 5 Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center The University of Texas at Austin www wildflower org Retrieved 2022 05 15 Chayka Katy Dziuk Peter 2016 Phlox divaricata Wild Blue Phlox Minnesota Wildflowers Levin D A 1967 Variation in Phlox divaricata Evolution 21 1 92 108 https doi org 10 2307 2406743 Hilty John 2020 Woodland Phlox Illinois Wildflowers a b Heather Holm 2014 Pollinators on Native Plants Minnetonka MN Pollinator Press pp 108 109 Phlox divaricata RHS Retrieved 5 March 2021 Phlox divaricata subsp laphamii Chattahoochee RHS Retrieved 5 March 2021 AGM Plants Ornamental PDF Royal Horticultural Society July 2017 p 78 Retrieved 25 April 2018 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Phlox divaricata nbsp Wikispecies has information related to Phlox divaricata Native Plant Database profile Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center University of Texas at Austin Phlox divaricata in the CalPhotos photo database University of California Berkeley Connecticut Botanical Society Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses Missouri Plants Virginia Tech Weed Identification Guide BioImages Missouri Botanical Garden IPNI Listing Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Phlox divaricata amp oldid 1187020444, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
