Flora of North America species comparison

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Clarkia borealis

Clarkia heterandra

northern clarkia

California gaura, heterogaura, mountain clarkia
Stems

erect, to 100 cm, puberulent.

erect, to 60 cm, glandular puberulent.
Leaves

petiole 15–40 mm;

blade elliptic to ovate, 2–6 cm.

petiole 5–20 mm;

blade lanceolate to ovate, 2–8 cm.
Inflorescences

open racemes, axis recurved only at tip in bud, straight 4+ nodes distal to open flowers;

buds pendent, fusiform, base slightly swollen, tip acute.

open racemes or panicles, axis straight;

buds erect.
Flowers

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.

sometimes autogamous;

floral tube 1–2 mm;

sepals reflexed together to 1 side;

corolla rotate, petals elliptic to obovate, tapered to claw;

stamens 8, unequal, anthers cream or light pink, inner ones smaller, sterile;

ovary subglobose, grooves obscure;

stigma not exserted beyond anthers.
Capsules

20–30 mm;

pedicel 0–3 mm.

2–3 mm, indehiscent, nutlike;

sessile or pedicellate (to 2 mm).
Seeds

light brown or mottled with dark spots, 1.5–2.5 mm, minutely tuberculate, crest 0.2 mm.

1 or 2.
2n

= 18.

Clarkia borealis

Clarkia heterandra
Phenology Flowering May–Jul.
Habitat Shady sites, woodlands, yellow-pine forests.
Elevation 500–2000 m. (1600–6600 ft.)
Distribution
from USDA
California
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; OR
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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.)

Clarkia heterandra occurs in southern Oregon and California, where it is known from the Klamath Ranges in Trinity County, widely in the Sierra Nevada and Tehachapi Mountain area from Nevada to Kern counties, and in the South Coast and Transverse Ranges from San Luis Obispo to Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Prior to 1986, Clarkia heterandra was treated as the monotypic genus Heterogaura, thought to be possibly related to the genus Gaura (now a section of Oenothera) due to its similar indehiscent fruits. However, molecular data indicate that C. heterandra is clearly within Clarkia, most closely related to C. dudleyana and C. unguiculata, which suggests a possible hybrid origin at the diploid level (K. J. Sytsma and L. D. Gottlieb 1986, 1986b; W. L. Wagner et al. 2007). Clarkia dudleyana and C. unguiculata produce spontaneous hybrids when grown adjacent to each other if they come from allopatric populations.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Seeds 1.5–1.8 mm.
subsp. borealis
1. Seeds 1.8–2.5 mm.
subsp. arida
Source FNA vol. 10. FNA vol. 10.
Parent taxa Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Clarkia > sect. Myxocarpa Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Clarkia > sect. Phaeostoma > subsect. Heterogaura
Sibling taxa
C. affinis, C. amoena, C. arcuata, C. australis, C. biloba, C. bottae, C. breweri, C. concinna, C. cylindrica, C. davyi, C. delicata, C. dudleyana, C. epilobioides, C. exilis, C. franciscana, C. gracilis, C. heterandra, C. imbricata, C. jolonensis, C. lassenensis, C. lewisii, C. lingulata, C. mildrediae, C. modesta, C. mosquinii, C. prostrata, C. pulchella, C. purpurea, C. rhomboidea, C. rostrata, C. rubicunda, C. similis, C. speciosa, C. springvillensis, C. stellata, C. tembloriensis, C. unguiculata, C. virgata, C. williamsonii, C. xantiana
C. affinis, C. amoena, C. arcuata, C. australis, C. biloba, C. borealis, C. bottae, C. breweri, C. concinna, C. cylindrica, C. davyi, C. delicata, C. dudleyana, C. epilobioides, C. exilis, C. franciscana, C. gracilis, C. imbricata, C. jolonensis, C. lassenensis, C. lewisii, C. lingulata, C. mildrediae, C. modesta, C. mosquinii, C. prostrata, C. pulchella, C. purpurea, C. rhomboidea, C. rostrata, C. rubicunda, C. similis, C. speciosa, C. springvillensis, C. stellata, C. tembloriensis, C. unguiculata, C. virgata, C. williamsonii, C. xantiana
Subordinate taxa
C. borealis subsp. arida, C. borealis subsp. borealis
Synonyms Gaura heterandra, Heterogaura heterandra
Name authority E. Small: Canad. J. Bot. 49: 1215, figs. 2B, 3A,B. (1971) (Torrey) H. Lewis & P. H. Raven: Madroño 39: 163. (1992)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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