Phlox hirsuta
Phlox hirsuta, the Yreka phlox or hairy phlox, is a species of phlox. It is a small flowering plant that grows in the serpentine soils of Siskiyou County, California and is the official city flower of Yreka, California, after which it is named.
Description
Yreka phlox plants grow to a height of up to six inches, with thick hairy stems at the base. In April through June they become covered by small pink or purple flowers.Related species
Yreka phlox often grows near another more common species of phlox, Phlox speciosa, which it resembles, but the latter species has deep notches in its flower petals that are not present in Yreka phlox. Additionally, unlike Yreka phlox, Phlox speciosa is capable of growing on non-serpentine soils. Some biologists have classified Yreka phlox as a variant of Phlox stansburyi, but its status as a separate species is now recognized by most biologists as well as by the CalFlora and USDA PLANTS databases.History
The first recorded specimen of Yreka phlox was discovered by Edward Lee Greene in 1876. Greene was the priest at St. Laurence's Episcopal Church in Yreka from 1876 to 1877, when he made the discovery; he later became the first botanist at the University of California, Berkeley. The discovery was recorded in 1899 by Elias Nelson, who described its location as "rocky hilltops near Yreka, Siskiyou County, California".In 2009, Yreka phlox was named as the official city flower of Yreka.