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    "Phlox" is Greek for "flame"; some members of the Phlox genus are hot pinks and reds.
Phlox longifolia (Phlox)
Polemoniaceae (Phlox Family)

Semi-desert. Canyons, shrublands. Spring, summer.
Dolores Canyon Overlook Road, May 17, 2004.

The flowers of Phlox longifolia vary from white to pink and purple and are large enough (and the overall plant tall enough at four-to-ten inches) that most hikers notice them immediately. They are often in small patches on barren ground in the forest or on open sandy soils and thus their presence is even more marked.  Long-leaved ("longifolia") Phlox bloom for a number of months in various parts of canyon country.

Nathaniel Wyeth collected the first specimen of Phlox longifolia probably on the return portion of his 1832-1833 first trading trip to the Pacific.  He gave his collection to his friend and eminent botanist, Thomas Nuttall, who named this plant in 1834.

Phlox longifolia (Phlox)
Polemoniaceae (Phlox Family)

Semi-desert. Canyons, shrublands. Spring, summer.
Robertson Pasture Trail, Abajo Mountains, Utah, May 30, 2006.
Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, April 21, 2008.
Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, April 18, 2007.


One key to distinguishing this Phlox is the keeled, white membrane between the lobes of the green calyx, as shown in the lower right of the photograph below.
Phlox longifolia (Phlox)
Polemoniaceae (Phlox Family)

Semi-desert. Canyons, shrublands. Spring, summer.
Dolores Canyon Overlook Road, May 17, 2004.

Conditions were perfect for Phlox longifolia in the spring of 2004 and here 50 feet of the roadside are covered in lavender, pink, and white blooms.