Phlox maculata L.
Detail
- Family
- Polemoniaceae
- Botanical Name
- Phlox maculata L.
- Common Name
- Meadow Phlox, Wild Sweet-william
- Synonym(s)
- Phlox maculata L. ssp. maculata; Phlox maculata L. ssp. pyramidalis (Smith) Wherry
- Flora of Virginia Name/Status
- Phlox maculata L.
- Comments
- Two largely sympatric subspecies have been ascribed to our area, but their validity needs investigation. Ssp. maculata is reported to have 7–15 well-spaced nodes and the upper leaves oblong to ovate and cordate at the base, flowering in early summer; ssp. pyramidalis (Smith) Wherry is reported to have 16–35 crowded nodes and the upper leaves lanceolate to ovate-oblong; truncate to subcordate at the base, flowering late summer. At least a few herbarium specimens have been labelled or annotated to subspecies, but differences in habitat and in-state distribution, if any, are not at all clear. A more comprehensive study of Virginia herbarium specimens will be needed to sort this out and make mapping of subspecies feasible.
- Habitat
- Wet meadows and clearings, stream banks, calcareous fens, bogs, seeps, and seepage swamps. Frequent in the mountains; infrequent in the Piedmont; rare in the inner Coastal Plain.
- Native Status
- Native
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