Clarkia affinis
Clarkia borealis
chaparral clarkia, chaparral clarkia or fairyfan, chaparral fairyfan
northern clarkia
erect, to 80 cm, puberulent.
erect, to 100 cm, puberulent.
petiole 0–3 mm;
blade linear to narrowly lanceolate, 1.5–7 cm.
petiole 15–40 mm;
blade elliptic to ovate, 2–6 cm.
dense spikes, axis straight;
buds erect.
open racemes, axis recurved only at tip in bud, straight 4+ nodes distal to open flowers;
buds pendent, fusiform, base slightly swollen, tip acute.
floral tube1.5–4 mm;
sepals reflexed together to 1 side;
corolla bowl-shaped, petals 5–15 mm;
stamens 8, subequal;
ovary cylindrical, 8-grooved, length at least 10 times width;
stigma not exserted beyond anthers.
floral tube 2–4 mm;
sepals reflexed individually;
corolla rotate, petals lavender-pink, often dark-flecked, obdeltate to suborbiculate, unlobed, 13–19 ×7–12 mm, length 1.6–2 times width;
stamens 8, subequal, subtended by ciliate scales, pollen blue-gray;
ovary shallowly 4-grooved, puberulent;
stigma exserted beyond anthers.
15–30 mm, beak 3–7 mm;
pedicel 0–5 mm.
20–30 mm;
pedicel 0–3 mm.
brown or gray, 1–1.5 mm, scaly, crest 0.1 mm.
light brown or mottled with dark spots, 1.5–2.5 mm, minutely tuberculate, crest 0.2 mm.
= 52.
Clarkia affinis
Clarkia borealis
Clarkia affinis is known primarily from west-central California and the North Coast Ranges, and more scattered in the Sierra Nevada Foothills and Western Transverse Ranges.
Clarkia affinis is a hexaploid most closely related to C. purpurea; both have 2n = 52. Chromosome pairing in hybrids between them, as well as morphology, suggest that they have a tetraploid (2n = 34) genome in common. The two species are most readily distinguished by their immature capsules, which in C. affinis are slender, at least ten times longer than wide, beaked, and shallowly grooved, whereas those of C. purpurea are stout, not more than eight times longer than wide, not prominently beaked, and deeply grooved; the sepals of the former are generally reflexed together in fours whereas those of the latter are reflexed individually or in twos. Based on morphology and molecular data, the diploid genome probably came from C. cylindrica or a related species.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora).
Clarkia borealis is closely related, and possibly ancestral, to C. mildrediae. The two species can be distinguished most readily by the degree of curvature of the inflorescence and the petal color.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Seeds 1.5–1.8 mm. | subsp. borealis |
1. Seeds 1.8–2.5 mm. | subsp. arida |
CA
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
