Elsewhere, the plant can be found from Montana south to Colorado and Kansas at elevations up to about 5,200 feet. Plains phlox is perennial from a taproot and woody rootcrown. Multiple spreading stems form low mats of plants about three inches tall.
Leaves are opposite, narrow, and about one half inch long.
The white, or sometimes pale blue, five-petalled flowers are numerous and about one half inch wide. The plant bears its seeds in small, three-celled capsules and also spreads by rhizomes. Look for plains phlox from early May to mid June near the tops of dry, gravel or clay hills. The plant seems to be slightly more abundant where grazing is heavy, perhaps because of reduced shading from other plants or the creation of bare spots where seeds can readily germinate. The plant is, of course, a member of the phlox family Polemoniaceae.