Speckled Phlox is an upright, clumping, herbaceous perennial with beautiful bright clusters of small, aromatic, tubular flowers. It grows in moist meadows, along riverbanks and in bottomland woodland openings in the eastern mountains and piedmont and in the midwest, although it is not really common in the wild. Generally unbranched, the sturdy stems of Speckled Phlox average between one and three feet tall and are marked with distinctive red spots (a diagnostic character). In the summer, the flower clusters appear in various shades of pink, lavender or white on terminal panicles, and last up to two months. They are pleasantly scented and are known to attract hummingbirds, butterflies and other pollinators. Speckled phlox is considered less susceptible to powdery mildew than Garden Phlox (Phlox paniculata). With tall sturdy stems, Speckled Phlox makes a great cut flower. It prefers full sun to part shade and average to moist soil conditions. It is sensitive to drought and should be watered if rainfall is scarce. Speckled Phlox will spread slowly by rhizomes and self seeding, but is easily controlled.
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Phlox maculata
Key Info
Common Names: Spotted Phlox, Summer Phlox, Meadow Phlox, Wild Sweet William, Speckled Phlox
Family Names: Polemoniaceae (Jacob's Ladder Family)
Plant Type: Herbaceous perennial
Leaf Retention: Deciduous
Flower Color: Pink to rose to lavender, rarely white
Additional Info
Habit: Upright, clump-forming perennial which typically grows 2-3' with tall, stiff, stems, characteristically spotted with red or purple streaks and generally unbranched. There is an overwintering basal rosette, tap root, and colony-forming short rhizomes.
Height: 2'-3'
Spread: 1'-2'
Soil Conditions: Moist well drained, organic, acid or alkaline, sandy, loamy, or clay
Leaves: Leaves are arrnged as widely spaced pairs along the unbranched stems, with smooth or finely-toothed margins, lance-shaped, with slender tips ad rounded base, shiny, dark green, sessile or nearly so, about 2½ - 4 inches long and ½ - ¾ inches across.
Flowers (or reproductive structures: The terminal panicle of aromatic flowers is about 4-10 inches in length, cylindrical (longer than it is wide, a diagnostic character for the typical subspecies (ssp. maculata); while the panicle of spp. pyramidalis is pyramidal in shape (broader at the base than toward the apex). Individual flowers, about ¾" across, have a pink, purple, or white corolla with 5 flattened, petal-like, obovate lobes, without notches, fused into a narrowly tubular base containing the reproductive parts, and a beautiful calyx of 5 green to purplish-green linear lobes.
Fruit: Pollinated flowers are replaced in the late fall by ovoid, 3-celled seed capsules about 1/3 inches long. Each cell of a capsule contains one or more small seeds which are distributed by the wind to a limited extent.
Natural Distribution: Rich woods, moist meadows, riverbanks, bottomland woodlands, woodland openings, fens, roadsides in wooded areas, and abandoned fields. Speckled Phlox typically occurs near woodlands or sources of water.
USDA Hardiness Zone: 3 to 8
USDA Wetland Indicator Status in NC: FACW
Pollination: Flowers are cross-pollinated by nectar-seeking butterflies, skippers, and moths.Long tongued insects (butterflies, some bees, other insects) and hummingbirds.
Wildlife Connections: Attracts hummingbirds, butterflies and other pollinators. Caterpillars of various moths feed on flowers, buds and foliage; bugs and beetles suck the juices (Illinoiswildlfoers.info). Mammalian herbivores readily consume Speckled Phlox, including rabbits, groundhogs, and deer.
Propagation: P. maculata will spread by rhizomes and by self-seeding.