Yesterday, my sister and another friend of mine ran the George Washington Parkway Classic -- a ten mile race that begins in Mount Vernon and ends in Old Town Alexandria. It was kind of a gloomy morning - but by the time the race was ending the sun began to peek out. Walking to brunch, I stopped to take a picture of this:
The flower itself may look familiar if you happen to remember my three-year-old post on NYPAOS about Phlox paniculata. This is indeed a Phlox as well: P. stolonifera. Clearly enough, it's called stolonifera because the plant spreads by stolons -- or adventitious stems that trail along the soil layer and eventually establish roots.
The plant is quite similar to moss phlox, or P. subulata, though that plant is farm more prostrate, growing along the ground in a flat dense carpet. They are both native to the US. P. stolonifera is found in the Piedmont region, along streams or under the forest canopy. P. subulata is more likely to be observed from the mid-Atlantic towards the western side of the Appalachian on exposed banks or slopes.
To confuse matters further, this plant could very well be P. x procumbens, which is a cross of the two species!
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