small spotlight : Phlox near Macedonia, TN August Seventh

 

The closest relative to this that I have found is Phlox amoena. The other possibility is Phlox paniculata.  It is a bit in between the two and it has been noted that Phlox varieties can cross and since each plant is both male and female, it can perpetuate in the crossed form in a wild place and be a little confusing!

It is definitely in the phlox family, as it is a '5 merous' flower, merosity having to do with how many parts in a wheel.. (see website above for source).  The plant finder app I used originally wanted to call it something else - Hesperis matronalis, which is part of the Brassica family, but the flower on H. matronalis is only 4 merous, and it did not have the same sort of 'clusters' of flowers ready to open as this one did.  

Phlox can also wander out of gardens, perhaps decades or a century ago, and grow on it's own in the wild.  This paticular set of plants is growing 'semi-wild' on the unmowed part of a roadside under some trees near the Macedonia Road.  We saw them the other day and the color said: 'Wait a minute!'  Today, after my postal route, I went and got a good picture.  Otherwise, it might be like the pink 'mallow' looking flower on Daffodil Hill that I said 'I'll get back to it'.. and now it's done and I have to wait for next year!

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