Both Phlox austromontana and Phlox diffusa have been vouchered at Table Mountain, although there is only a single voucher for austromontana. When we first saw a Phlox plant at Table Mountain, we thought it was austromontana since the leaf tips were very sharp-pointed. It was only later, after further investigation by Tom Chester and communication with Jepson Manual Phlox author Carolyn Ferguson, that we became aware of important diagnostic characters. P. diffusa has membranes between the calyx lobes that are flatter, more delicate and have long, jointed, spreading hairs, while the membranes on P. austromontana are keeled particularly toward the base of the calyx and generally have no hairs. The Jepson Manual says that the leaves in diffusa are not sharp-tipped, but this seems not to be the case. The leaf apices in diffusa are shorter, more abruptly narrowed, and more like mucro tips, whereas the leaf apices in austromontana are longer, narrower, and less abruptly narrowed. There is no obvious difference in 'ouchiness' in handling the two taxa. Another distinguishing character is the densely-hairy upper leaf surface for austromontana and the +/- glabrous upper leaf surface for diffusa. It appears that despite what the Jepson Manual says about its range, P. austromontana is not in the San Gabriels and possibly not even in Los Angeles Co. but is fairly common in the San Bernardinos and Peninsular Range. The pictures of austromontana are from the Pebble Plains near Big Bear, and the voucher from Table Mountain has probably been misidentified. |
