Flora of North America species comparison

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Clarkia imbricata

Clarkia biloba

Vine Hill clarkia

two lobed clarkia, twolobe clarkia
Stems

erect, to 60 cm, glabrous or sparsely puberulent.

erect, 30–100 cm, strigillose.
Leaves

petiole 0–2 mm;

blade lanceolate, 2–2.5 cm.

petiole to 15 mm;

blade linear to lanceolate, 2–8 cm.
Inflorescences

dense racemes, axis straight;

buds erect.

open racemes, axis recurved at tip in bud;

buds pendent.
Flowers

floral tube 10–15 mm, conspicuously veined, lavender striate within;

sepals reflexed individually;

corolla bowl-shaped, petals lavender shading to white proximally, with large, wedge-shaped purplish red spot near apex, 20–25 mm;

stamens 8, subequal;

ovary 8-grooved, longer than adjacent internode;

stigma exserted beyond anthers.

floral tube 1–4 mm;

sepals reflexed together to 1 side;

corolla rotate to bowl-shaped, petals purplish to pale pink, lavender, or bright pink to magenta, often red-flecked, broadly to narrowly fan-shaped, 10–25 mm, shallowly to deeply 2-lobed;

stamens 8, unequal, outer anthers lavender, inner ones smaller, paler.
Capsules

10–15 mm.

10–25 mm.
Seeds

brown or gray, 2 mm, scaly, crest 0.2 mm.

brown, 1 mm, minutely scaly to puberulent, crest inconspicuous.
2n

= 16.

Clarkia imbricata

Clarkia biloba
Phenology Flowering Jun–Jul.
Habitat Clearings, roadsides, chaparral.
Elevation 50 m. (200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[BONAP county map]
from USDA
California
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Clarkia imbricata, known from only one small area of Sonoma County, is designated as rare by the California Native Plant Society, and is in the Center for Plant Conservation’s National Collection of Endangered Plants; it is a relict of a lineage with 2n = 16 that presumably contributed a genome to the tetraploid species C. davyi and the South American C. tenella.

Morphologically, Clarkia imbricata is most similar to C. speciosa, C. williamsonii, and some populations of C. purpurea. Clarkia imbricata can be distinguished from C. speciosa by the color pattern of the petals and from C. williamsonii and populations of C. purpurea with similar flower size and color pattern by its broader, ascending, overlapping leaves.

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

Subspecies 3 (3 in the flora).

Clarkia biloba is most closely related to C. lingulata, which is derived from C. biloba subsp. australis. Some populations of C. biloba subsp. brandegeeae (originally described as a form of C. dudleyana) are morphologically very similar to some individuals of C. dudleyana but the two taxa are separated geographically, have different chromosome numbers, and hybrids between them are sterile.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Petals bright pink to magenta, narrowly fan-shaped, length greater than 1.5 times width.
subsp. australis
1. Petals lavender to pale or purplish pink, broadly fan-shaped, length not greater than 1.5 times width.
→ 2
2. Petals purplish to pale pink, deeply 2-lobed, lobes usually 1/5–1/2 petal length.
subsp. biloba
2. Petals lavender, shallowly 2-lobed, lobes usually less than 1/5 petal length, sometimes obscure.
subsp. brandegeeae
Source FNA vol. 10. FNA vol. 10.
Parent taxa Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Clarkia > sect. Godetia Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Clarkia > sect. Phaeostoma > subsect. Lautiflorae
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. heterandra, 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. 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. rubicunda, C. similis, C. speciosa, C. springvillensis, C. stellata, C. tembloriensis, C. unguiculata, C. virgata, C. williamsonii, C. xantiana
Subordinate taxa
C. biloba subsp. australis, C. biloba subsp. biloba, C. biloba subsp. brandegeeae
Synonyms Oenothera biloba, Godetia biloba
Name authority H. Lewis & M. E. Lewis: Madroño 12: 38. (1953) (Durand) A. Nelson & J. F. Macbride: Bot. Gaz. 65: 60. (1918)
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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