Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/464

 450 PHLOX PHOOEA about a foot high, spreading, and pubescent with somewhat viscid hairs ; the flowers of a deep rose color, darker at the centre, with a yellow throat, and very attractive before culti- vation had wrought any change in it. A wide extent of prairie covered with this phlox is a sight long to be remembered. This is one of the plants which, in gardener's language, " break " readily, and in the comparatively short time it has been in cultivation it has produced a great number of varieties, new ones being added to the list yearly ; it now includes pure white, white with purple eye, purple, violet, lilac, rose, crimson, and intense scarlet colors, with intermediate shades; besides these there are striped and marbled sorts, dark kinds with light centre, and even a pale yellow. If the seeds are started under glass and the plants set out in June, they will keep up a continuous and profuse bloom until frost comes. One section of the perennial species has low, tufted, creeping stems, upon which are crowded nar- row evergreen leaves, and bear flowers in flat clusters on short stems which lift them just above the leaves ; some species of this section are found only on the Rocky mountains and in arctic America, but one is quite common on rocky hills from New York W. and S., and has long been cultivated in gardens under the name of moss pink ; it forms dense broad mats, which in April and May are covered with rose-colored flowers with a darker eye ; there is a white variety, and one with white flowers with a rose-colored eye. P. pilosa, P. reptans, and P. divaricata are low early- Moss Pink (Phlox subulata). flowering species, sometimes seen in cultiva- tion. The perennial phloxes or hardy herba- ceous phloxes of the catalogues, sometimes absurdly called French lilac, are garden varie- ties derived from our P. divaricata and P. maculata, so hybridized and crossed that it is difficult to trace their parentage ; they are smooth, have erect stems with large leaves tapering or heart-shaped at base, and with a large terminal oblong or pyramidal panicle of flowers. Florists make two divisions : decus- sata, including those which have strong stems 1 to 4 ft. high, and suffruticosa for those with slender stems from 1 to 2 ft. high. The named varieties form a large and constantly increasing list, and present a wide range of color from the purest white to crimson, purple, and scar- Herbaceous Perennial Phlox Garden Hybrid. let, with every intermediate shade, and also flowers with distinct centres, with stripes and marblings and various shadings and blendings of colors; some begin to 'flower in June, others appear later, and it is possible to have a con- stant succession through the season. PHOCJDA, an ancient town of western Asia Minor, on a peninsula extending into the ^gean between the Cymsean and Herma3an gulfs, about 25 m. N". "W. of Smyrna. According to the le- gend, it was founded by Philogenes and Damon, two emigrant Athenians. Under rulers of the race of Oodrus, it belonged to the Ionian con- federation, and became one of the most impor- tant Asiatic ports. According to Herodotus, the Phocseans were the first Greeks who made extended voyages. Finding themselves unable to hold their city when besieged by Harpagus, the general of Cyrus, the inhabitants took ad- vantage of a day's truce to place their families and property on board ship, and set sail for Chios. After vainly endeavoring to buy from the Chians the island group of the GEnuss, they decided to settle in Corsica, where they had already planted a colony. Before their final departure from the Asiatic coasts they landed again at Phocasa and slaughtered the Persian garrison left there by the conquerors. Leaving their own country with an oath never to return to it, such as desired to settle in Cor- sica again embarked. Their Corsican colony, Alalia, soon became so powerful as to excite the