Stems: rather slender, ascending or erect. Leaves: acerose to linear-subulate, pubescent to nearly glabrous, often ciliate near the base, loosely imbricated. Flowers: sessile or short-peduncled. Fruit: capsule ovoid, three valved.

The plants of the Alpine Phlox form cushion-like tufts on the rocky slopes of the mountains, where their pretty little pink, lilac or white flowers, that terminate the branch-lets, are usually sessile. The corolla is salver-form with a five-lobed border, and there are five stamens on its tube. The leaves are needle-like, rigid, loosely imbricated, and often clustered at the nodes.