Flora of North America species comparison

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Clarkia heterandra

Clarkia delicata

California gaura, heterogaura, mountain clarkia

campo clarkia, delicate clarkia
Stems

erect, to 60 cm, glandular puberulent.

erect, 20–70 cm, glabrous and glaucous distally, usually puberulent basally.
Leaves

petiole 5–20 mm;

blade lanceolate to ovate, 2–8 cm.

petiole to 10 mm;

blade lanceolate to elliptic or ovate, 1.5–4 cm.
Inflorescences

open racemes or panicles, axis straight;

buds erect.

open racemes, sometimes branched, axis straight;

buds pendent.
Flowers

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.

floral tube 2 mm;

sepals reflexed together to 1 side;

corolla rotate, petals oblanceolate to obovate, 8–12 mm, claw tapered, shorter than blade, apex entire;

stamens 8, unequal, outer anthers orange-red, inner smaller, paler.
Capsules

2–3 mm, indehiscent, nutlike;

sessile or pedicellate (to 2 mm).

15–35 mm;

subsessile.
Seeds

1 or 2.

brown, 1–1.5 mm, tuberculate (especially on raphe), crest inconspicuous.
2n

= 18.

= 36.

Clarkia heterandra

Clarkia delicata
Phenology Flowering May–Jul. Flowering Apr–May.
Habitat Shady sites, woodlands, yellow-pine forests. Oak woodlands, chaparral.
Elevation 500–2000 m. (1600–6600 ft.) 0–1000 m. (0–3300 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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.)

Clarkia delicata is known in California only from the Peninsular Ranges, mainly in San Diego County with outliers in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, and in northern Baja California, Mexico. Because of its limited range, it is listed as rare by the California Native Plant Society. It is a tetraploid derived from hybridization between C. epilobioides and C. unguiculata.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 10. FNA vol. 10.
Parent taxa Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Clarkia > sect. Phaeostoma > subsect. Heterogaura Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Clarkia > sect. Phaeostoma > subsect. Connubium
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. 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
C. affinis, C. amoena, C. arcuata, C. australis, C. biloba, C. borealis, C. bottae, C. breweri, C. concinna, C. cylindrica, C. davyi, 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
Synonyms Gaura heterandra, Heterogaura heterandra Godetia delicata
Name authority (Torrey) H. Lewis & P. H. Raven: Madroño 39: 163. (1992) (Abrams) A. Nelson & J. F. Macbride: Bot. Gaz. 65: 60. (1905)
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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