Phlox Species, Texan Phlox, Pine Phlox, Texas Trailing Phlox

Once considered extinct, the Texas trailing phlox was rediscovered in 1972 in Bryan, Texas and this species was federally listed as endan...Read Moregered in 1991. Texas trailing phlox is native to Texas in the Pineywoods regions of southeast Texas in the counties of Hardin, Tyler, and Polk counties. This endangered subshrub normally has pink to magenta blooms, although white has been noted. It normally flowers from March to May (but nearly year round in cultivation) and resembles the commonly cultivated creeping garden phlox, Phlox subulata. Texas trailing phlox is well adapted to fire, and if a prescribed burning occurs in April, plants will resprout and flower again in May.

It naturally occurs in the long-leaf pine savanna and inhabits deep, sandy soils under open to moderately dense canopies and prefers a 25-75% canopy coverage.

It is currently grown at the Mercer Arboretum Endangered Species Garden in Houston, Texas and has been reintroduced in the Big Thicket Preserve in Hardin County, Texas.