Cedar Creek Natural History Area

Plants of Cedar Creek

Four specie of Phlox are found on the Area.  The Phlox Family has 5-petals fused into a tubular corolla and offers nectar rewards.  Only one species in this family naturally occurs at Cedar Creek. P. pilosa (Prairie Phlox) is a common pink-flowered species of mesic fields and swales. P. divaricata (Woodland Phlox) is an attractive, tall blue-flowered species probably planted on Crone’s Knoll.  It is generally absent from the Anoka Sandplain but occurs in floodplain forests nearby and in mesic forests to the south.  The remaining two, P. paniculata and P. subulata are garden plants that survive at a few homesites.