Clarkia amoena
Onagraceae subfam. onagroideae
arewell-to-spring, farewell-to-spring, farewell-to-spring clarkia, godetia, yellow clarkia
erect to decumbent, 20–200 cm, puberulent.
petiole to 10 mm;
blade linear to lanceolate, 1–6 cm.
stipules present or absent.
open or dense spikes or racemes, axis straight;
buds erect.
floral tube 3–10 mm;
sepals usually reflexed together to one side, or rarely in pairs or singly;
corolla bowl-shaped, petals pale pink to lavender, usually with red spot or mark near middle, obovate to fan-shaped, 15–60 mm, not lobed, apex sometimes shallowly notched or erose;
stamens 8, in 2 subequal sets;
ovary cylindrical and 4-grooved or fusiform and 8-grooved, puberulent;
stigma exserted or not beyond anthers.
floral tube present or, rarely, absent;
sepals 2 or 4 (very rarely 3), deciduous with floral tube, petals, and stamens;
petals yellow, white, pink, red, rarely in combination.
15–40 mm, sometimes broader distally;
pedicel 0–13 mm.
brown to grayish brown, 1–1.5 mm, scaly, crest 0.1 mm.
Clarkia amoena
Onagraceae subfam. onagroideae
Subspecies 5 (5 in the flora).
Clarkia amoena is closely related to C. rubicunda, which differs morphologically mainly in the color pattern of the petals. Petals of C. amoena have a conspicuous red spot or group of small red spots or marks near the middle, whereas those of C. rubicunda have a red area at the base and are not spotted near the middle. The areas of distribution of the two species barely overlap in California just north of San Francisco Bay, and C. rubicunda could be considered a southern geographical race or subspecies of C. amoena were it not that their readily formed hybrids are sterile due to chromosomal rearrangement. Clarkia amoena is one of the parent species of the allotetraploid C. gracilis. Intermediates between subspecies are frequent.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Genera 21, species 582 (16 genera, 246 species in the flora).
Onagroideae encompass the main lineage of the family, after the early branching of Ludwigia (R. A. Levin et al. 2003, 2004). This large and diverse lineage is distinguished by the presence of a floral tube beyond the apex of the ovary; sepals deciduous with the floral tube, petals, and stamens; pollen shed in monads (or tetrads in Chylismia sect. Lignothera and all but one species of Epilobium); ovular vascular system exclusively transseptal (R. H. Eyde 1981); ovule archesporium multicellular (H. Tobe and P. H. Raven 1996); and change in base chromosome number from x = 8 in Ludwigia to x = 10 or x = 11 at the base of Onagroideae (Raven 1979; Levin et al. 2003). Molecular work (Levin et al. 2003, 2004) substantially supports the traditional tribal classification (P. A. Munz 1965; Raven 1979, 1988); tribes are recognized to delimit major branches within the phylogeny of Onagroideae, where the branches comprise strongly supported monophyletic groups of one or more genera.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Stigmas not exserted beyond anthers; petals less than 20 mm; coastal British Columbia, Oregon, Washington. | subsp. caurina |
1. Stigmas exserted beyond anthers; petals 15–60 mm. | → 2 |
2. Ovaries 8-grooved, broadly fusiform, 8–12 mm wide. | subsp. whitneyi |
2. Ovaries 4-grooved, cylindrical to subclavate, 2–6 mm wide. | → 3 |
3. Inflorescences open, internodes longer than subtending flowers, bracts sublinear. | subsp. huntiana |
3. Inflorescences congested, internodes shorter than subtending flowers, bracts narrowly lanceolate or wider. | → 4 |
4. Stems decumbent to suberect, to 100 cm; petals 20–35 mm, usually with red spot mid blade; coastal California. | subsp. amoena |
4. Stems erect, to 200 cm; petals 30–40 mm, usually without red spot or with very small spot or streak mid blade; inland Oregon, Washington. | subsp. lindleyi |
- Local floras:
BC, 
CA, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos,
Flora NW, 
PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
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