Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Ericales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (2/10/25):
Phlox nivalis +
FAMILY
Polemoniaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
This is a unique Phlox for the Piedmont and Coastal Plain, being evergreen, semi-woody (suffruticose), and a sprawling plant that sends up erect but deciduous flowering shoots to 2-5 inches high. It has needle-like leaves, usually several in a whorl, with numerous whorls, and thus the plant is quite like a "dwarf cedar". Read more at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
INCLUDED WITHIN
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Phlox nivalis
FAMILY
Polemoniaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Phlox nivalis +
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 159-01-002:
Phlox nivalis + FAMILY Polemoniaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Phlox nivalis
COMMON NAME:
Pineland Phlox, Trailing Phlox, Pine Phlox
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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Will Stuart wil_7441266912_1ab07c5170
June Richmond County NC
North Carolina Sandhills Gamelands
Calyx lobes slightly less than or = tube, pubescent, some trichomes glandular, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
Will Stuart wil_7441266912_d0a7ab70b4
June Richmond County NC
North Carolina Sandhills Gamelands
Lavender to pink flowers with a darkened eye; stamens shorter than the tube, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006).
)
Tim Spira tpspnivalis
Month Unknown
Flowering shoots are erect with narrow opposite or clustered leaves, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (2/10/25):
Phlox nivalis +
FAMILY
Polemoniaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Phlox nivalis
FAMILY
Polemoniaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Phlox nivalis +
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 159-01-002:
Phlox nivalis +
FAMILY
Polemoniaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Phlox nivalis
1061
Forb
Perennial
Look for it . Ssp. nivalis occurs in sandhills, other dry woodlands; ssp. heintzii on rock outcrops, thin soils of rocky woodlands; both on roadbanks, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common, uncommon, rare, or absent - depending on variety & region
LEAVES:
Evergreen
Simple
Opposite
FLOWER:
Spring
Pink/Rose/Lavender
Radially symmetrical
5-merous
5-lobed salverform corolla
5 included stamens
Superior ovary
Bisexual
FRUIT:
Spring
Capsule
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- All About South Carolina Wildflowers (Midgley, 1999) p222
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006) p068
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p198?
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p291
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p369
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p209
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p284
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p132
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p082
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p082
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".