Flora of North America species comparison

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Clarkia heterandra

Clarkia rubicunda

California gaura, heterogaura, mountain clarkia

farewell-to-spring, ruby chalice clarkia
Stems

erect, to 60 cm, glandular puberulent.

erect or decumbent, to 150 cm, puberulent;

buds erect.
Leaves

petiole 5–20 mm;

blade lanceolate to ovate, 2–8 cm.

petiole to 10 mm;

blade lanceolate to elliptic, 1–4 cm.
Inflorescences

open racemes or panicles, axis straight;

buds erect.

open or dense spikes or racemes, axis straight;

buds erect.
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 4–10 mm;

sepals reflexed together to one side;

corolla bowl-shaped, petals pink to lavender, base red or purplish red, fan-shaped, 10–30 mm, apex erose;

stamens 8, subequal;

ovary cylindrical, 4-grooved, puberulent;

stigma exserted beyond anthers.
Capsules

2–3 mm, indehiscent, nutlike;

sessile or pedicellate (to 2 mm).

20–40 mm;

pedicel 0–25(–40) mm.
Seeds

1 or 2.

brown to grayish brown, 1.2–1.5 mm, scaly, crest 0.2 mm.
2n

= 18.

= 14.

Clarkia heterandra

Clarkia rubicunda
Phenology Flowering May–Jul. Flowering May–Aug.
Habitat Shady sites, woodlands, yellow-pine forests. Openings in woodlands, forests, chaparral, coastal scrub.
Elevation 500–2000 m. (1600–6600 ft.) 0–500 m. (0–1600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[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 rubicunda is known from the central coast of California, from Contra Costa and Marin counties south along the coast and foothills to northern San Luis Obispo County.

Clarkia rubicunda is probably a derivative of C. amoena and may be ancestral to C. franciscana. Clarkia rubicunda is distinguishable from some populations of C. amoena only by the absence of a red spot or group of spots near the middle of the petal and the presence of a red area at the base of the petal. Clarkia rubicunda can be distinguished from C. franciscana by the position of the stigma and size and shape of the petals. All three species differ in chromosome arrangement and hybrids are highly sterile.

(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. Rhodanthos > subsect. Primigenia
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. 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. similis, C. speciosa, C. springvillensis, C. stellata, C. tembloriensis, C. unguiculata, C. virgata, C. williamsonii, C. xantiana
Synonyms Gaura heterandra, Heterogaura heterandra Godetia rubicunda, C. rubicunda subsp. blasdalei, G. blasdalei
Name authority (Torrey) H. Lewis & P. H. Raven: Madroño 39: 163. (1992) (Lindley) H. Lewis & M. E. Lewis: Madroño 12: 34. (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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