Microsteris gracilis

Slender phlox

Family: Polemoniaceae · Type: annual · Native

Slender phlox is a California native annual found in dry to moist areas across the state at elevations up to 3,300 meters. Flowering from March to August, this delicate plant produces bright pink or white flowers with small lobes and a yellowish tube, typically 1 to 2 millimeters across. Growing with erect or decumbent stems less than 20 centimeters tall, it has a glandular-hairy appearance that becomes more pronounced toward the upper portions of the plant. Its leaves are opposite near the base and often alternate higher up the stem, ranging 10 to 30 millimeters long and shaped oblanceolate to lanceolate. When wet, the plant's seeds develop a unique gelatinous coating, adding to its distinctive botanical character.

Habitat: dry to moist areas

Bloom period: Mar-Aug

Elevation: < 3300 m

Bioregions: CA

California counties: Kern, San Bernardino, Tulare, San Diego, Riverside, Los Angeles, Ventura, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Mono, Alameda, El Dorado, Butte, Plumas, Modoc, Alpine, Fresno, Lake, Marin, Lassen, Shasta, Nevada, Sonoma, Mendocino, Merced, Glenn, Sutter, Tehama, Humboldt, Sierra, Trinity, Placer, Colusa, Siskiyou, Calaveras, Del Norte, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Contra Costa, Inyo, Tuolumne, Amador, San Benito, Solano, Santa Clara, Napa, Yolo, Mariposa, San Joaquin, Yuba, Kings, Santa Cruz, Madera

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.