''Microsteris'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the phlox family containing the single species ''Microsteris gracilis'', known by the common name slender phlox. The segregation of this species into a genus of its own is controversial, and many botanists continue to include the plant in genus ''

Phlox ''Phlox'' (; Greek φλόξ "flame"; plural "phlox" or "phloxes", Greek φλόγες ''phlóges'') is a genus of 67 species of perennial and annual plants in the family Polemoniaceae. They are found mostly in North America (one in Siberia) in di ...

''. Genetic analysis is continuing.

Distribution

''Microsteris gracilis'' is native to western North America from northwestern Canada to the American Midwest and West Coast, through

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, as well as parts of South America. It is

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

to all the diverse plant communities in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

.Jepson eFlora: Distribution map for ''Microsteris gracilis'' in California
/ref> Microsteris gracilis 3242f

Description

''Microsteris gracilis'' is an annual herb which is variable in shape, taking a decumbent, branching, sometimes almost tuftlike form or growing erect and very slender. Its maximum height approaches 20 centimeters, but it may be much smaller. The lance-shaped leaves are 1 to 3 centimeters long and oppositely arranged except for the upper ones, which are alternate. The herbage is glandular and hairy in texture. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

at the top of the stem bears one or more small flowers. The flower has a tubular throat around a centimeter long encased in a tubular calyx of

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

s. The flat corolla has five flat-tipped or notched lobes just 1 or 2 millimeters long. The flower is white to bright pink with a yellowish throat.

References

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment of ''Microsteris gracilis''USDA Plants Profile for ''Microsteris gracilis'' (slender phlox)''Microsteris gracilis'' — U.C. Photo gallery
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15396409 Monotypic Ericales genera Polemoniaceae Flora of Mexico Flora of Western Canada Flora of the Northwestern United States Flora of the Southwestern United States Flora of California Flora of Nebraska Flora of South Dakota Flora of South America Flora of the California desert regions Flora of the Cascade Range Flora of the Great Basin Flora of the Klamath Mountains Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Natural history of the Peninsular Ranges Natural history of the Transverse Ranges Polemoniaceae genera Flora without expected TNC conservation status