Clarkia epilobioides
Clarkia lewisii
canyon clarkia, willow-herb clarkia
Lewis' clarkia
erect, 20–70 cm, sparsely puberulent.
erect, to 50 cm, puberulent to glabrate.
petiole to 7 mm;
blade linear to narrowly lanceolate or oblanceolate, 1.5–2.5 cm.
petiole to 7 mm;
blade narrowly lanceolate to lanceolate, 2–5 cm.
open racemes, sometimes few-branched, axis recurved at tip in bud;
buds pendent.
open racemes, axis recurved at tip in bud;
buds pendent.
usually cleistogamous;
floral tube 1–3 mm;
sepals reflexed together to 1 side or in pairs;
corolla bowl-shaped, petals fading pink, obovate;
stamens 8, unequal, anthers white or cream, outer ones larger than inner.
floral tube 1.5–4 mm, with ring of hairs at distal margin inside;
sepals reflexed together to 1 side;
corolla bowl-shaped, petals pinkish lavender shading white near middle, base purplish red or with red line, sometimes reddish purple-flecked, 10–30 mm;
stamens 8, unequal, width of all filaments subequal or inner slightly thinner, outer anthers lavender, inner smaller, paler.
10–30 mm;
pedicel 5–11 mm.
15–70 mm, beak 0–3 mm.
brown, 0.5–1 mm, scaly, crest inconspicuous.
brown, 1 mm, scaly to puberulent, crest inconspicuous.
= 18.
= 18.
Clarkia epilobioides
Clarkia lewisii
Clarkia epilobioides is known from south-central Arizona in Gila, Maricopa, Pima, and Pinal counties, and widely in west-central and southwestern California and adjacent Baja California, Mexico. In California, it occurs from Contra Costa and San Mateo counties in the San Francisco Bay area to San Diego County in the south, including most of the Channel Islands.
Clarkia epilobioides is modally self-pollinating, and up to half of its flowers do not open, yet set a full complement of seeds (H. Lewis and M. E. Lewis 1955). However, outcrossing does occur, and C. epilobioides is one of the parents of the tetraploid species C. similis, from which it differs by having white, unflecked petals; it is also one of the parents of the tetraploid C. delicata.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Clarkia lewisii is known primarily from Monterey County, sparsely in San Benito County, barely reaching Santa Clara County, and is listed as rare by the California Native Plant Society. It is most closely related and morphologically similar to C. cylindrica, from which it can be distinguished by having all filaments about equally wide and a ring of hairs at the rim of the floral tube; outer filaments of C. cylindrica are two times as wide as the inner ones, and the ring of hairs is within the tube below the rim. Clarkia lewisii is also closely related to C. rostrata, from which it differs conspicuously by having a much shorter capsule beak.
Clarkia lewisii is a new name applied to the species known until 1978 as C. bottae, following examination and reinterpretation of the type of Godetia bottae Spach by P. H. Raven and D. R. Parnell (1978). They determined that the type specimens of G. bottae actually referred to the species then known as C. deflexa (Jepson) H. Lewis & M. E. Lewis, and reapplied the name C. bottae to that species in sect. Fibula.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
CA
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
