Common Slender Phlox. Phlox gracilis or Microsteris gracilis, Phlox Family ( Polemoniaceae ), Common Slender Phlox. Also called: Slender Phlox; Annual Phlox. We wish to thank Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia for some of the information on this page. We share images and information with Wikipedia. Microsteris gracilis, known by the common name Slender Phlox is a genus of its own, which is controversial, and many botanists still continue to include this plant in the genus Phlox. However, Microsteris is still considered a monotypic genus of flowering plants of the Phlox family. To resolve this issue, genetic analysis is continuing. Common Slender Phlox is native to western North America from northwestern Canada to the American Midwest to Mexico, as well as parts of South America. It is an annual herb which is variable in shape, taking a decumbent, branching, sometimes almost tuftlike form or growing erect and very slender. Its maximum height approaches 20 centimeters, but it may be much smaller. The lance-shaped leaves are 1 to 3 centimeters long and oppositely arranged except for the upper ones, which are alternate. The herbage is glandular and hairy in texture. The inflorescence at the top of the stem bears one or more small flowers. The flower has a tubular throat around a centimeter long encased in a tubular calyx of sepals. The flat corolla has five flat-tipped or notched lobes just 1 or 2 millimeters long. The flower is white to bright pink with a yellowish throat. Quick Notes: Height: Normally, 2 to 4 inches. Flowers: Color, pink, or lavender to purple, sometimes white. Calyx 6-8 mm long; corolla tube 8-18 mm long, the lobes 8-10 mm long and nearly as wide, rounded at the apex; stamens included or slightly exserted.. Stalk: Slender, creeping rhizomes; stems mostly 2 - 4 inches tall, sparsely to densely glandular pubescent. Flowering Time: Mid March - August. Fruit: The fruit is an achene with a bristly pappus 0.6 to 0.8 inch long. Leaves: Evergreen, 3/8 - 1 1/2 inches long, entire, linear to narrowly lanceolate or elliptic, glabrous to ciliate or sometimes pubescent like the stems. Found: Native to the Western USA. Normally found in the high desert of Northern Arizona. Hardiness: USDA Zone 5b: to -26.1 �C (-15 �F) USDA Zone 6a: to -23.3 �C (-10 �F) USDA Zone 6b: to -20.5 �C (-5 �F) USDA Zone 7a: to -17.7 �C (0 �F) USDA Zone 7b: to -14.9 �C (5 �F) USDA Zone 8a: to -12.2 �C (10 �F) USDA Zone 8b: to -9.4 �C (15 �F) Soil pH requirements: 6.6 to 7.5 (neutral) 7.6 to 7.8 (mildly alkaline) 7.9 to 8.5 (alkaline) Sun Exposure: Full Sun Part Shade Elevation: 3,000 Feet - 7,000 Feet. Habitat: Open grassy places and woods. Also seeps, springs, streams and moist soils. Full sun to part shade. Miscellaneous: Flowering Photos Taken April 15, 2007. Yarnell, Arizona at 4,800 feet.

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