This occurs mostly in the central and southern Appalachians. It is generally uncommon but locally abundant, as in Ky. on terraces along streams of the central and northern Cliff Section. It is curiously rare or absent in most of the Red Rv. watershed. P. stolonifera differs from all other eastern species of Phlox in its sterile prostrate basal stolons, produced at anthesis, that form large clonal patches of stems with spathulate to obovate leaves; also 2n = 28 (versus usually 14). P. divaricata is also somewhat stoloniferous, but has elliptic to oblong leaves. Also, flowers of stolonifera are deep red-purple with unnotched petals, unlike typical divaricata. P. stolonifera appears to have a basal phylogenetic position within the whole carolina - glaberrima - maculata - pilosa group (Garner et al. 2022).