Clarkia heterandra
Clarkia lewisii
California gaura, heterogaura, mountain clarkia
Lewis' clarkia
erect, to 60 cm, glandular puberulent.
erect, to 50 cm, puberulent to glabrate.
petiole 5–20 mm;
blade lanceolate to ovate, 2–8 cm.
petiole to 7 mm;
blade narrowly lanceolate to lanceolate, 2–5 cm.
open racemes or panicles, axis straight;
buds erect.
open racemes, axis recurved at tip in bud;
buds pendent.
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 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.
2–3 mm, indehiscent, nutlike;
sessile or pedicellate (to 2 mm).
15–70 mm, beak 0–3 mm.
1 or 2.
brown, 1 mm, scaly to puberulent, crest inconspicuous.
= 18.
= 18.
Clarkia heterandra
Clarkia lewisii
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 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
OR
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
