Phlox paniculata L.
perennial phlox
Erect, perennial herb to c. 1 m high, with woody rootstock forming large clumps; stems glabrous, simple. Lvs subsessile, opposite, 3.5-9 × 1-3.5 cm, lanceolate, ovate-lanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate, glabrous except for ciliate margins; base rounded to subcordate; apex ± acuminate. Infl. a large terminal pyramidal panicle; branches and pedicels puberulent; fls fragrant. Bracts ovate to lanceolate in upper fls, > pedicels and also sometimes > calyx, ciliate. Pedicels very short, except in uppermost fl.; hairs eglandular. Calyx 7-9 mm long; tube > lobes, with eglandular hairs, with a transparent membrane between lobes (below sinus); lobes linear-subulate, not reflexing. Corolla tube 1.5-2 cm long, cylindric, with eglandular, curly hairs; limb 2-3 cm diam., glabrous; lobes suborbicular to obovate, usually white, pink, rose or purplish. Anthers > filaments, 2-2.5 mm long. Style c. 12 mm long, filiform. Capsule not seen.
S.: Christchurch, and near Harihari (S. Westland).
E. and C. U.S.A. 1958
Gutters and cracks in footpaths, roadsides.
FL Nov-Jun.
Perennial phlox is widely and very commonly cultivated in N.Z. and is often a relic of cultivation in abandoned gardens. The capsules, 5-7 mm long and prominently beaked, contrast with those of P. drummondii which are smaller and have a small persistent stylar mucro. Capsules have not been seen on wild specimens of P. paniculata but are produced on some of the many cvs grown.
P. paniculata has previously been known in N.Z. as P. decussata.
