Flora of North America species comparison

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Clarkia franciscana

Clarkia borealis

Presidio clarkia

northern clarkia
Stems

erect, to 40 cm, strigillose.

erect, to 100 cm, puberulent.
Leaves

petiole 0–5 mm;

blade narrowly lanceolate, 1–5.5 cm.

petiole 15–40 mm;

blade elliptic to ovate, 2–6 cm.
Inflorescences

racemes, axis straight;

buds erect.

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

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

floral tube 1–3 mm;

sepals reflexed together to one side;

corolla bowl-shaped, petals lavender-pink shading white near middle, base bright reddish purple, fan-shaped, 5–13 mm, apex erose;

stamens 8, subequal;

ovary cylindrical, 4-grooved, puberulent;

stigma not exserted beyond anthers.

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.
Capsules

20–40 mm;

pedicel 0–15 mm.

20–30 mm;

pedicel 0–3 mm.
Seeds

gray, 1.2–1.5 mm, scaly, crest 0.2 mm.

light brown or mottled with dark spots, 1.5–2.5 mm, minutely tuberculate, crest 0.2 mm.
2n

= 14.

Clarkia franciscana

Clarkia borealis
Phenology Flowering May–Jun.
Habitat Serpentine soil.
Elevation 50 m. (200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[BONAP county map]
from USDA
California
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Clarkia franciscana is an endangered species (designated rare by the California Native Plant Society), restricted to serpentine soils in coastal grass and shrub communities. The only known localities for it are the Presidio in San Francisco County, and the Oakland Hills in Alameda and Contra Costa counties.

Geographic distribution and petal color pattern suggest that Clarkia franciscana may be a self-pollinating derivative of C. rubicunda. If true, enzyme studies indicate that the origin is not recent.

Clarkia franciscana is in the Center for Plant Conservation’s National Collection of Endangered Plants.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

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.)
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. Rhodanthos > subsect. Primigenia Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Clarkia > sect. Myxocarpa
Sibling taxa
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. 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. 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
Subordinate taxa
C. borealis subsp. arida, C. borealis subsp. borealis
Name authority H. Lewis & P. H. Raven: Brittonia 10: 7, fig. 1a, b, d. (1958) E. Small: Canad. J. Bot. 49: 1215, figs. 2B, 3A,B. (1971)
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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