''Phlox pilosa'', the downy phlox or prairie phlox, is an

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of ...

plant in the family

Polemoniaceae The Polemoniaceae (Jacob's-ladder or phlox family) are a family of flowering plants consisting of about 27 genera with 270–400 species of annuals and perennials native to the Northern Hemisphere and South America, with the center of diversity ...

. It is native to eastern North America, where it is found in open areas such as prairies and woodlands.

Description

Downy phlox is a

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

that grows high. The stems are upright and sometimes branched near the top. Leaves, stems, and

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

s are covered with hairs and the plant is sticky to the touch. Leaves are long and narrow and have pointed tips; they can be up to long and wide. The flowers grow in rounded clusters up to at the top of stems. The stems have

opposite leaves In botany, phyllotaxis () or phyllotaxy is the arrangement of leaf, leaves on a plant stem. Phyllotactic spirals form a distinctive class of patterns in nature. Leaf arrangement The basic leaf#Arrangement on the stem, arrangements of leaves ...

. Each flower has five lobes (

petal Petals are modified leaves that form an inner whorl surrounding the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly coloured or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corol ...

s) that are pale pink, lavender, or purple, and is across. File:Downy phlox and prairie dock.jpg, Downy phlox blooming in its natural habitat, in a Wisconsin prairie. (The large-leafed plant is '' Silphium terebinthinaceum''.)

Ecology

The flowers produce pollen on anthers near the end of the corolla tube, and nectar at the bottom of the corolla. Only butterflies, moths, skippers, and very long-tongued bees (the largest

bumblebee A bumblebee (or bumble bee, bumble-bee, or humble-bee) is any of over 250 species in the genus ''Bombus'', part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only Extant taxon, extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct r ...

s) have long enough tongues to reach the nectar. Shorter-tongued bees and

flower flies Hoverflies, also called flower flies or syrphids, make up the insect family (biology), family Syrphidae. As their common name suggests, they are often seen Hover (behaviour), hovering or nectaring at flowers; the adults of many species feed main ...

visit to feed on or gather pollen. It is a larval host to the phlox moth (''Schinia indiana''). The flowers are

self-incompatible Self-incompatibility (SI) is a general name for several genetic mechanisms that prevent self-fertilization in sexually reproducing organisms, and thus encourage outcrossing and allogamy. It is contrasted with separation of sexes among individuals ...

. Unless they are

cross-pollinated Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, for example bees, beetles or butterflies; birds ...

, they will not produce any seed. Butterflies, skippers, and moths are the most effective pollinators. As they insert their

proboscis A proboscis () is an elongated appendage from the head of an animal, either a vertebrate or an invertebrate. In invertebrates, the term usually refers to tubular arthropod mouthparts, mouthparts used for feeding and sucking. In vertebrates, a pr ...

into the corolla tube, it touches the

anther The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

s and picks up pollen. When they roll up their proboscis and move to the next flower, some pollen remains and is transferred to the stigma as they insert their proboscis into the next flower.

References

External links

*
Missouri Botanical Garden
*

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7186544

pilosa The Order (biology), order Pilosa is a clade of xenarthran placental mammals, native to the Americas. It includes anteaters and sloths (which include the extinct ground sloths). The name comes from the Latin word for "hairy". Origins and taxon ...

Flora of Northern America Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus