Phlox nivalis is a species of flowering plant in the Polemoniaceae family, it is commonly known as the trailing phlox, but other common names include Pineland phlox, Pine phlox, and sweet trailing. It is native to the southeastern states, along with Texas, Utah, and Michigan. [1]
Phlox nivalis is an evergreen perennial plant, meaning it lives longer than one year. [2] It is typically semi woody, with thin stiff needle like stems, and prostrate low laying form. Flowers have five petals that, and are radially symmetric, with obvious spreading lobes, and a narrow floral tube. This species of Phlox differs from others due to its liking for acidic soils. The flowers of Phlox nivalis range from shades of purples, pinks, and a white variety. The five petals have bright vibrant colors at the ends and have darker color tubes or centers. The plant itself grows low to the ground forming mounds that spread along the ground. It flowers in the spring months of the year. [3]
| Phlox nivalis | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Phlox nivalis 'Nivea' | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Ericales |
| Family: | Polemoniaceae |
| Genus: | Phlox |
| Species: | P. nivalis |
| Binomial name | |
| Phlox nivalis Lodd. ex Sweet | |
The leaves of Phlox nivalis are simple broadleaf evergreen leaves, that are approximately 3-6 inches in length. The glossy green leaves have an opposite or whorled leaf arrangement.
Phlox nivalis thrives in an array of habitat including the mountain, piedmont, and coastal plains, [4] but it tends to prefer dry, hot, and sandy areas. In the southeast Phlox nivalis occurs in habitat including the sandhills and piedmont, but it is also known to thrive in pine forests as a form of ground cover in Texas forest. This species of Phlox tends to be drought resistant and does well in occasionally dry soils or sloped areas that drain relatively quickly.
Soil Ph doesn’t often have much of an effect on Phlox nivalis but it tends to prefer more neutral to acidic soils. It prefers loam and sandy soils as opposed to clays, due to the quick drainage. [5]
Phlox nivalis is very popular garden plant due to its drought tolerance. It is often used to border walkways or paths, it can often be found in hanging baskets or containers, like planters or pots. [6] It also known to attract hummingbirds which makes them favorable for hanging baskets.
One subspecies of this plant, Phlox nivalis, ssp. texensis, the Texas trailing phlox or Texan phlox, is a federally listed endangered species in the United States. [7] It is endemic to Texas, where there are fewer than 20 populations in three counties. [8] At one time it was thought to be extinct. It was rediscovered in 1972. [9] The restoration of the longleaf pine forest in Texas has helped Phlox nivalis ssp. texensis recover. [10]
Phlox nivalis is known to attract humming birds and it provides a food source for wildlife. Phlox nivalis is used occasionally in food plots for herbivore species like deer. [11]
Phlox is a genus of 68 species of perennial and annual plants in the family Polemoniaceae. They are found mostly in North America in diverse habitats from alpine tundra to open woodland and prairie. Some flower in spring, others in summer and fall. Flowers may be pale blue, violet, pink, bright red, or white. Many are fragrant.
Pinus contorta, with the common names lodgepole pine and shore pine, and also known as twisted pine, and contorta pine, is a common tree in western North America. It is common near the ocean shore and in dry montane forests to the subalpine, but is rare in lowland rain forests. Like all pines, it is an evergreen conifer.
The Piney Woods is a temperate coniferous forest terrestrial ecoregion in the Southern United States covering 54,400 square miles (141,000 km2) of East Texas, southern Arkansas, western Louisiana, and southeastern Oklahoma. These coniferous forests are dominated by several species of pine as well as hardwoods including hickory and oak. Historically the most dense part of this forest region was the Big Thicket though the lumber industry dramatically reduced the forest concentration in this area and throughout the Piney Woods during the 19th and 20th centuries. The World Wide Fund for Nature considers the Piney Woods to be one of the critically endangered ecoregions of the United States. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines most of this ecoregion as the South Central Plains.
Fremontodendron, with the common names fremontia and flannelbush or flannel bush, is a genus of three known species of shrubs native to the Southwestern United States and northwest Mexico.
The Big Thicket is the name given to a somewhat imprecise region of a heavily forested area of Southeast Texas in the United States. This area represents a portion of the mixed pine-hardwood forests of the Southeast US. The National Park Service established the Big Thicket National Preserve (BTNP) within the region in 1974 and it is recognized as a biosphere reserve by UNESCO. Although the diversity of animals in the area is high, with over 500 vertebrates, it is the complex mosaic of ecosystems and plant diversity that is particularly remarkable. Biologists have identified at least eight, and up to eleven, ecosystems in the Big Thicket area. More than 160 species of trees and shrubs, 800 herbs and vines, and 340 types of grasses are known to occur in the Big Thicket, and estimates as high as over 1000 flowering plant species and 200 trees and shrubs have been made, plus ferns, carnivorous plants, and more. The Big Thicket has historically been the most dense forest region in what is now Texas.
Drosera capillaris, also known as the Pink Sundew is a species of carnivorous plant belonging to the family Droseraceae. It is native to the Southern United States, the Greater Antilles, Eastern and Southern Mexico, Central America, and Northern South America. It is listed as vulnerable in the US state of Virginia, and critically imperiled in Arkansas, Maryland, and Tennessee.
Clematis texensis, commonly called scarlet leather flower, is a climbing vine in the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae). It is native to the United States, where it is endemic to the Edwards Plateau of Texas. Its natural habitat is on rocky limestone cliffs and streamsides.
Serpentine soil is an uncommon soil type produced by weathered ultramafic rock such as peridotite and its metamorphic derivatives such as serpentinite. More precisely, serpentine soil contains minerals of the serpentine subgroup, especially antigorite, lizardite, and chrysotile or white asbestos, all of which are commonly found in ultramafic rocks. The term "serpentine" is commonly used to refer to both the soil type and the mineral group which forms its parent materials.
Fremontodendron californicum, with the common names California flannelbush, California fremontia, and flannel bush, is a flowering shrub native to diverse habitats in southwestern North America.
Carya glabra, the pignut hickory, is a common, but not abundant species of hickory in the oak-hickory forest association in the Eastern United States and Canada. Other common names are pignut, sweet pignut, coast pignut hickory, smoothbark hickory, swamp hickory, and broom hickory. The pear-shaped nut ripens in September and October, has a sweet maple like smell, and is an important part of the diet of many wild animals. The wood is used for a variety of products, including fuel for home heating. Its leaves turn yellow in the Fall.
Phlox subulata the creeping phlox, moss phlox, moss pink or mountain phlox, is a species of flowering plant in the family Polemoniaceae, native to eastern and central USA, and widely cultivated.
Phlox divaricata, the wild blue phlox, woodland phlox, or wild sweet william, is a species of flowering plant in the family Polemoniaceae, native to forests and fields in eastern North America.
Geranium carolinianum is a species of geranium known by the common name Carolina crane's-bill, or Carolina geranium. This species is native to North America, where it is widespread and grows in many types of habitat. There are two varieties; Geranium carolinianum var. carolinianum and the Geranium carolinianum var. sphaerospermum. This is a summer or winter annual herb. It can be considered invasive depending on the region, when it is found in the United States it is considered to be native.
Gilia capitata is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common names blue-thimble-flower, bluehead gilia, blue field gilia, and globe gilia.
Linanthus pungens is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common names granite prickly-phlox and granite gilia. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to Baja California and east to Montana and New Mexico.
Ribes oxyacanthoides is a species of flowering plant in the gooseberry family known by the common name Canadian gooseberry. Its various subspecies have common names of their own. It is native to North America, where it occurs in Alaska through much of Canada and the western and north-central United States.
Village Creek is a blackwater tributary of the Neches River in Texas, United States. It arises in northwestern Hardin County outside the community of Village Mills. Due to the waterway's isolation and absence of impoundments, it is known to be pristine supporting cypress swamps and hardwood forests, as well as many rare and endangered species. It is 63 miles (101 km) long and average streamflow at the mouth is approximately 1,000 cubic feet per second (28 m3/s). It passes through three conservation areas on the way south, being: the Big Thicket National Preserve - Village Creek Corridor Unit, Roy E. Larsen Sandyland Sanctuary, and Village Creek State Park.
Collar rot is a symptomatically described disease that is usually caused by any one of various fungal and oomycete plant pathogens. It is present where the pathogen causes a lesion localized at or about the collet between the stem and the root. The lesions develop around the stem eventually forming a "collar". Observationally, collar rot grades into "basal stem rot", and with some pathogens is the first phase of "basal stem rot" often followed by "root rot". Collar rot is most often observed in seedings grown in infected soil. The pathogens that cause collar rot may be species or genera specific. But generalist pathogens such as Athelia rolfsii are known to attack over 200 different species. While bacteria caused collar rot is not common, trees infected with Fire blight may develop collar rot. Non-parasitic collar rot may be caused by winter damage.
Phlox maculata, common names wild sweetwilliam and meadow phlox, is a species of flowering plant in the family Polemoniaceae, native the eastern United States and introduced to eastern Canada. It is a perennial.
Croton alabamensis var. texensis is a variety of Croton alabamensis that is endemic to the state of Texas in the United States. It is commonly known as the Texabama croton.
