Linanthus pungens (Torr.) J.M. Porter & L.A. Johnson
prickly phlox
Polemoniaceae (Phlox family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
prickly phlox
Polemoniaceae (Phlox family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Photograph
© Gordon Neish (Photo ID #24680)
Species Information
General:
Shrub from a taproot; stems decumbent to more or less erect, branched, leafy, often sweetly aromatic, minutely hairy or glandular-hairy to hairless, 10-60 cm tall.
Leaves:
Alternate or lower leaves opposite, numerous, 5-12 mm long, with bundles of smaller leaves in their axils, deeply palmately cleft into 3 to 7 rigid, linear, spine-tipped segments, the middle segment the longest; dead leaves remain through 1 or more seasons.
Flowers:
Inflorescences terminal clusters of unstalked, sweet-scented flowers solitary in leaf axils; corollas dull white to yellowish with lavender shading on the outer surface, 12-25 mm long, the tube funnel-shaped, flaring to 5 egg-shaped lobes 6-11 mm long; calyces 7-10 mm long, the 5 lobes unequal, spine-tipped; flowers opening in the evening, during the day loosely crumpled-closed.
Fruits:
Capsules, 3-5 mm long, 3-chambered; seeds several (5 to 10) per chamber.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Linanthus pungens
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
566 | 335 | 1300 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
24 | 0 | 65 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
211 | 70 | 340 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
2 | 0 | 4 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
B | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
34 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
BG | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
BG(21), IDF(3), PP(7) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Dry, open, rocky or sandy slopes and shrublands in the steppe zone; locally frequent in extreme SC BC; S to NE, MT, NM and MX.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Gilia hallii Parish
Gilia pungens (Torr.) Benth.
Gilia pungens var. hookeri (Douglas ex Hook.) A. Gray
Leptodactylon hazeliae M. Peck
Leptodactylon lilacinum Greene ex Brank
Leptodactylon pungens (Torr.) Torr. ex Nutt.
Leptodactylon pungens (Torr.) Torr. ex Nutt.
Leptodactylon pungens subsp. brevifolium (Rydb.) Wherry
Leptodactylon pungens subsp. eupungens (Brand) Wherry
Leptodactylon pungens subsp. hallii (Parish) H. Mason
Leptodactylon pungens subsp. hazeliae (M. Peck) R.J. Meinke
Leptodactylon pungens subsp. hookeri (Douglas ex Hook.) Wherry
Leptodactylon pungens subsp. pulchriflorum (Brand) H. Mason
Leptodactylon pungens subsp. squarrosum (A. Gray) Tidestr.
Leptodactylon pungens var. hallii (Parish) Jeps.
Leptodactylon pungens var. hookeri (Douglas ex Hook.) Jeps.