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Introduction
Showy phlox is a red-listed species in British Columbia and is considered threatened in Canada. It is found in North America from southern British Columbia south to Idaho, Montana and northern California (Douglas et al. 1999). It reaches the northern limits of its distribution in British Columbia, where it is reported from the Okanagan Valley, from Summerland south to Skaha Lake and southwest to the Twin Lakes (COSEWIC 2004). Populations are particularly clustered around Yellow Lake and Twin Lakes, between Keremeos and Penticton (COSEWIC 2004). This is a species of "dry grasslands, shrublands, and open forests in the steppe and montane zones" (Douglas et al. 1999), where it may be found in sagebrush and Ponderosa pine communities (COSEWIC 2004) .
General: Perennial herb from a woody taproot, becoming shrubby towards the base; stems erect, glandular or glandular-hairy above, hairy below, 15-40 cm tall.
Leaves: Opposite, linear to lanceolate, to 7 cm long and 1 cm wide, the internodes well developed.
Flowers: Inflorescence of loose, leafy-bracted, terminal clusters of stalked flowers; corollas pink to white, the tube 1-1.5 cm long, spreading to five wide lobes 1-1.5 cm long and notched at the tip; calyces glandular, the transparent segments between the 5 green ribs flat; styles 0.5-2 mm long.
Dry grasslands, shrublands and open forests in the steppe and lower montane zones; rare in SC BC, known recently only from Yellow Lake and Twin Lakes; S to ID, MT and N CA.
Phlox speciosa is most similar to Phlox longifolia, but the latter has longer styles (6-15 mm), non-glandular calyces, and un-notched, darker pink petals (Douglas et al. 1999). Non-flowering P. speciosa plants could be confused with several other herbaceous species that have linear to lanceolate leaves and occur in similar habitats.
