Nearctica - Eastern Wildflowers - Polemoniaceae - Wild Sweet William (Phlox maculata)

Wild Sweet William

(Phlox maculata)

Color Photograph: USDA, NRCS, 1997 - Northeastern Wetlands Flora.

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

Wild Sweet William (Phlox maculata L.)

Identification: Flowers pink, with 5 petals and a long, thin corolla tube. Petals wedge-shaped, radiating from the center of the corolla tube. Corolla tube very long and slender. Stamens visible in the opening of the corolla tube. Plant not branched near the top, and flowers in a long cylindrical cluster. Stem with purple spots, smooth. Leaves in opposite pairs, elongate, becoming broad near the leaf base. Plant 1.5 to 3 feet in height.

Distribution: Minnesota in the west to southern New England in the east, southward to Florida and Mississippi. Escaped from gardens elsewhere.

Habitat: Wild Sweet William is found in low forest, and along the banks of rivers and lakes.

Flowering period: May to September.

Similar Species: The leaves of Garden Phlox are large and generally broader. In addition the corolla tube is not as narrow and elongate as in Wild Sweet William. Smooth Phlox has narrow leaves that do not broaden as much toward the base, and the top of the plant is branched near the top. The stamens of Downy Phlox are visible in the opening of the corolla tube.