Clarkia cylindrica
Clarkia heterandra
speckled clarkia, speckled fairyfan
California gaura, heterogaura, mountain clarkia
erect, to 60 cm, puberulent or glabrous.
erect, to 60 cm, glandular puberulent.
petiole to 5 mm;
blade linear to narrowly lanceolate, 1–6 cm.
petiole 5–20 mm;
blade lanceolate to ovate, 2–8 cm.
open racemes, axis recurved at tip in bud;
buds pendent.
open racemes or panicles, axis straight;
buds erect.
floral tube 2–7 mm, with ring of hairs proximal to distal margin inside;
sepals reflexed together to 1 side;
corolla bowl-shaped, petals purple to pinkish lavender shading white near middle, often reddish purple-flecked, base bright purplish red, 10–35 mm;
stamens 8, unequal, width of outer filaments about 2 times inner, outer anthers lavender, inner smaller, paler.
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.
20–50 mm, beak 3–5 mm.
2–3 mm, indehiscent, nutlike;
sessile or pedicellate (to 2 mm).
brown, 1–1.5 mm, minutely scaly to puberulent, crest 0.1 mm.
1 or 2.
= 18.
Clarkia cylindrica
Clarkia heterandra
Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora).
As defined by Davis, the subspecies of Clarkia cylindrica have distinct but partly overlapping geographical ranges; subsp. cylindrica mainly in the South Coast and Transverse Ranges to the Tehachapi Mountain area, and subsp. clavicarpa mainly in the central and southern Sierra Nevada Foothills to the Tehachapi Mountain area. More recent collections suggest more substantial geographical overlap. Morphological variation correlates with geographical distribution, with the most consistent difference in ovary and capsule shape. According to Davis, the taxa are moderately interfertile, less so for more distantly separated individuals.
(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.)
1. Ovaries and capsules cylindrical. | subsp. cylindrica |
1. Ovaries and capsules subclavate, enlarged distally. | subsp. clavicarpa |
CA
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
OR
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
