Phlox dispersa

High sierra phlox, High Sierra Phlox

Family: Polemoniaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.3

High sierra phlox is a California native perennial ranked 4.3 by CNPS, found in southern Sierra Nevada Mountains in Tulare and Inyo counties on dry granite flats at elevations of 3,600 to 4,200 meters. Flowering from July to August, this plant produces white flowers with irregularly margined lobes in small terminal clusters. Growing as a compact, cushion-like perennial with long, creeping rhizomes, it forms dense mats of delicate stems. Its leaves grow in widely spaced clusters, each narrow and lance-linear, approximately 5 to 10 millimeters long, with a distinctive leathery texture and sharp-pointed tips. The plant's white flower corollas feature tubes about 10 millimeters long, creating intricate clusters against the high alpine landscape.

Habitat: dry flats of loose granite

Bloom period: Jul-Aug

Elevation: generally 3600-4200 m

Bioregions: s SNH (Tulare, Inyo cos.).

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