Phlox condensata is the sweetest smelling of alpine flowers and it is often so abundant that on still days
the air is redolent with its fragrance.  But since winds are common in the treeless areas that Phlox condensata favors,
it is often necessary to prostrate oneself before it and nose into it. You won’t regret the effort.  In favorable summers
of normal moisture, Phlox condensata flowers profusely; in dry summers only the tight green tufts of tiny leaves show.

Charles Parry collected the first specimen of Phlox condensata in Colorado in 1861.  Asa Gray named this species
Phlox caespitosa variety condensata and Elias Nelson renamed it Phlox condensata in 1899.  "Condensata" is Latin
for "coming together thickly", i.e., "dense", referring to the thick mat of tiny leaves.

Range map © John Kartesz,
Floristic Synthesis of North America

State Color Key

Species present in state and native
Species present in state and exotic
Species not present in state

County Color Key

Species present and not rare
Species present and rare
Species extirpated (historic)
Species extinct
Species noxious
Species exotic and present
Native species, but adventive in state
Eradicated
Questionable presence

Range map for Phlox condensata