Phlox glaberrima, commonly called smooth phlox[1] and sometimes marsh phlox,[2][a] is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family. It is native to the Midwestern and Southeastern United States[3] where it is found in moist to wet areas. It can be found in both prairies and forests, where it is an indicator of high quality habitat.[4]
The relationships between Phlox glaberrima, Phlox carolina, and Phlox maculata are particularly unclear. There may be hybridization, or an undescribed third species that resembles an intermediate. As of 2014,[update] the phylogenetic relationships of this group of Phlox were under review,[5] with variations in the "Phlox carolina–glaberrima complex...among the most difficult phlox plants to positively identify".[5]
Botanist Edgar T. Wherry (1955) recognized three subspecies, subsp. glaberrima in its eastern range, subsp. interior of the Plains (the Wabash smooth phlox) and subsp. triflora (syn.P. triflora, the three-flower smooth phlox) in the South,[5][6] but Locklear (2012) only two, incorporating subsp. triflora with subsp. glaberrima.[7]
The glaberrima and interior variations, along with other taxa in the P. carolina–glaberrima complex and P. maculata, are frequently cultivated as ornamental landscape plants, but triflora rarely is.[5] Notable cultivars include P. glaberrima 'Morris Berd',[8]P. glaberrima ssp. triflora 'Forever Pink'[9] and P. glaberrima ssp. triflora 'Triple Play'.[10]
^Ruth Rogers Clausen and Thomas Christopher. Essential Perennials: The Complete Reference to 2700 Perennials for the Home Garden. Timber Press, 2015. p. 307.ISBN9781604696721
