Perennial. In dry, sandy or rocky soil, extensively cultivated as an early blooming plant. New York to Michigan, south to Florida and Kentucky. Escaped from cultivation in New England. Rare in northern Ohio, except in gardens. April, May.

Stems

Much branched, forming mats; branches two to six inches long.

Leaves

Crowded, awl-like, acute or acuminate, spreading.

Flowers

Pink-purple or white, clustered at the ends of the branches.

Calyx

Tubular, five-lobed.

Corolla

Salver-shaped, five-lobed, tube slender; lobes slightly notched at the apex.

Stamens

Five, inserted on the tube of the corolla and alternate with its lobes, included.

Pistil

Ovary three-celled; style slender; stigmas three.

Fruit

Ovoid capsule, three-celled, three-valved, several-seeded.

Moss-Pink. Phlox subulata

The Moss-Pink under cultivation sets the garden ablaze with brilliant bloom and lights up the desolation of early May. The depressed stems with their little sharp-pointed leaves make dense mats of mosslike foliage, and when in flower these mats are transformed into a mass of rose-purple, pink, or white, so perfectly does the bloom hide the foliage. Rocky hillsides and rocky banks are its natural home, but any light soil will serve.