Idaho Phlox: a local endemic

Publication Type:

Magazine Article

Authors:

Moseley, Bob

Source:

Sage Notes, Idaho Native Plant Society, Volume 20, Issue 4, p.5-7 (1998)

Call Number:

U98MOS17IDUS

Keywords:

Phlox idahonis

Abstract:

Since its discovery and description by Edgar Wherry in the early 1940s, Idaho phlox (Phlox idahonis) has captured the attention of botanists due to its beauty, its rarity, and its unique biogeographic position of being without close relatives in western North America. For many years, this tall, showy phlox was only known from a meadow near the Clearwater-Potlatch Timber Protective Association (CPTPA) office near Headquarters in Clearwater County, about 60 miles east of Moscow. Today, it is known from four clusters of populations in the Headquarters area, with 98% of it occurring on land owned by Potlatch Corporation and the remainder on State of Idaho endowment lands. Its rarity and vulnerability to extinction have been recognized for over 20 years, and today it remains one of the rarest members of Idaho' s flora.