Phlox condensata is a species of phlox known by the common name dwarf phlox. It is native to the western United States including eastern California, Nevada, and Colorado, where it grows in rocky, mountainous areas. It is a very compact mat-forming perennial herb growing in patches often less than a centimeter tall. The toothlike lance-shaped leaves are no more than half a centimeter long and lined with stiff hairs. The inflorescence is a solitary tubular flower up to a centimeter long with a flat white or pale pink corolla.
Taxonomy Phlox condensata was first described by Asa Gray as variety of Phlox caespitosa in 1870. It was recategorized as a species by Elias Emanuel Nelson in 1899, though Edgar T. Wherry disagreed, describing it as a subspecies of Phlox caespitosa in 1941. It is part of the Phlox genus within the wider Polemoniaceae family and has two accepted subspecies.
Phlox condensata subsp. condensata – Native to California, Nevada, New Mexico, and Colorado Phlox condensata subsp. covillei – Native to California and Nevada
Phlox condensata has seven synonyms of the species or subspecies covillei according to Plants of the World Online. However, NatureServe follows an alternate taxonomy with Phlox covillei as a species confined to California and Nevada and Phlox condensata as a Rocky Mountain Species growing in New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming.
Table of Synonyms Name Year Rank Synonym of: Notes Phlox caespitosa subsp. condensata 1941 subspecies P. condensata ≡ hom. Phlox caespitosa var. condensata 1870 variety P. condensata ≡ hom. Phlox caespitosa var. covillei 1907 variety subsp. covillei ≡ hom. Phlox covillei 1899 species subsp. covillei ≡ hom. Phlox covillei f. dejecta 1942 form subsp. covillei = het. Phlox dejecta 1906 species subsp. covillei = het. Phlox douglasii var. covillei 1943 variety subsp. covillei ≡ hom. Notes: ≡ homotypic synonym; = heterotypic synonym
References Citations
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