Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

Phlox pulvinata is a species of phlox known by the common name cushion phlox. It is native to the western United States where it grows in mountain and plateau habitat, in rocky subalpine and alpine climates, including exposed tundra habitat. It is a perennial herb taking a flat, dense, cushionlike form on the ground. Its very short stems are lined with hair-fringed lance-shaped leaves each no more than a centimeter long. The plant is among the first to flower in the spring in many areas. It blooms densely, forming carpets of flowers. Each white to pale pink flower has a tubular throat up to a centimeter long and a flat five-lobed corolla.

Plant type

Perennial herb

Calscape icon
Color

Pink, White

Sun

Full Sun, Partial Shade

Site type

Dry rocky places

Plant communities

Alpine Fell-Fields, Subalpine Forest

Caterpillars
Butterflies

Butterflies and moths supported

0 confirmed and 4 likely

Confirmed Likely

Euxoa extranea

Euxoa infausta

Spotted Straw Sun Moth

Heliothis phloxiphaga

Purple-Lined Sallow

Pyrrhia exprimens