Flora of North America species comparison

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Clarkia cylindrica

Clarkia prostrata

speckled clarkia, speckled fairyfan

prostrate clarkia
Stems

erect, to 60 cm, puberulent or glabrous.

prostrate or decumbent, to 50 cm, sparsely puberulent.
Leaves

petiole to 5 mm;

blade linear to narrowly lanceolate, 1–6 cm.

sessile or subsessile;

blade oblanceolate to elliptic, 1–2.5 cm, apex usually obtuse.
Inflorescences

open racemes, axis recurved at tip in bud;

buds pendent.

prostrate, dense racemes, axis straight;

buds erect.
Flowers

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.

floral tube 4–7 mm;

sepals usually reflexed in pairs;

corolla bowl-shaped, petals lavender-pink shading pale yellow basally, with reddish purple spot above base, 10–15 mm;

stamens 8, subequal;

ovary 8-grooved;

stigma not exserted beyond anthers.
Capsules

20–50 mm, beak 3–5 mm.

20–30 mm.
Seeds

brown, 1–1.5 mm, minutely scaly to puberulent, crest 0.1 mm.

brown or gray, 1–1.5 mm, scaly, crest 0.2 mm.
2n

= 52.

Clarkia cylindrica

Clarkia prostrata
Phenology Flowering May–Jul.
Habitat Coastal bluffs in grasslands and closed-cone pine forests.
Elevation 0–100 m. (0–300 ft.)
Distribution
from USDA
California
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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 prostrata, like C. davyi, occurs only on coastal bluffs and adjacent low elevation pine forests along the Pacific coast, and in this case only in the California Central Coast Subregion in Monterey, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, and San Luis Obispo counties.

Clarkia prostrata is a hexaploid that combines the tetraploid genome of C. davyi and the diploid genome of C. speciosa. Clarkia prostrata is morphologically and ecologically very similar to C. davyi but can usually be distinguished by its larger flowers with a spot on each petal. It differs from C. speciosa by having smaller flowers with the stigma not exserted beyond the anthers.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Ovaries and capsules cylindrical.
subsp. cylindrica
1. Ovaries and capsules subclavate, enlarged distally.
subsp. clavicarpa
Source FNA vol. 10. FNA vol. 10.
Parent taxa Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Clarkia > sect. Phaeostoma > subsect. Sympherica Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Clarkia > sect. Godetia
Sibling taxa
C. affinis, C. amoena, C. arcuata, C. australis, C. biloba, C. borealis, C. bottae, C. breweri, C. concinna, 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. heterandra, C. imbricata, C. jolonensis, C. lassenensis, C. lewisii, C. lingulata, C. mildrediae, C. modesta, C. mosquinii, 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. cylindrica subsp. clavicarpa, C. cylindrica subsp. cylindrica
Synonyms Godetiabottae spach var. cylindrica
Name authority (Jepson) H. Lewis & M. E. Lewis: Madroño 12: 33. (1953) — (as cyclindrica) H. Lewis & M. E. Lewis: Madroño 12: 36. (1953)
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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