flowery phlox

Rocky mountain phlox is a low growing perennial plant that grows from a taproot. The main stems trail along the ground and are woody, as much as 30 centimeters (12 in) long, though individual plants are more typically 8–25 cm (3–10 in) wide. Shorter branches rise off main stems and are covered in the leaves. Its numerous stems rarely grow to even 15 centimeters (6 in) tall, packed together forming a loose mat of about 5 to 10 cm (2 to 4 in) in height. Large numbers of plants can be found covering shrubby hillsides in some areas.

Fully developed leaves are thin, needle-like, just 1–2 millimeters wide and usually 12–30 mm long, though occasionally even the longest leaves will be just 10 mm. Their surface is often hairless, but can have a slight rough and grainy texture or be slightly ciliate, fringed with hairs on the leaf edges. Leaves attach to the stems in pairs on opposite sides of the stems. When blooming the whole of the plant surface can be covered in a carpet of flowers. The flowers are salverform, the petals open up to a flat surface and unite at the base into a tube extending downwards at a right angle. Each flower has five petal-lobes and five sepals with three lobes to the style. The flower petals can be lilac, pale blue, pink, or white. The flower's tube is 10–14 mm long while each petal is 6–11 mm. …

Rocky Mountain phlox is native to eight western US states. It grows in north-central New Mexico, but the NRCS only records it in Mora County. It is widespread in western Colorado with more records in the central north and another concentration in the central mountains. In Wyoming it is found in every county in the western two-thirds of the state. Plants are mostly in the southwestern mountain counties of Montana, but there are also records of its in Flathead County in the north. The range in Idaho is in the northeastern mountains and the eastern part of the state, but though native to Oregon it is only recorded in Union County in the northeast. It is known from five northern Utah counties, Box Elder, Rich, Summit, Daggett, and Uintah. To the west it is only found in as a disjunct population in the Jarbidge Mountains in Elko County, Nevada. It usually grows in fairly rocky areas and can be found in both open and wooded habitats from above timberline to the highest parts of the foothills at elevations of 2,200 to 3,265 meters (7,218–10,712 ft). The species is associated with habitats dominated by sagebrush, quaking aspens, Rocky Mountain ponderosa pine forests, Douglas-fir forests, and lodgepole pines.

In the traditional medicine of the Cheyenne, as recorded by George Bird Grinnell and his collaborators, Rocky Mountain phlox is used as a mild stimulant. The leaves and flowers are infused into warm water after being pulverized. The liquid is then rubbed into the body of a person experiencing numbness and a small amount might be taken as a tea.

Cultivation. Rocky Mountain phlox is grown in native plant gardens, though like other cushion phloxes from the western United States it not a common garden plant. It is valued by gardeners for the pleasant scent of its flowers. Plants can be propagated both by seed and by the division of mature individuals in autumn. According to Coloradan author Lauren Springer, it requires dry conditions and is successful in sunny locations. However, according to Australian writer and botanist Frances Bodkin it is intolerant of drought and prefers moist, loamy soil.