Flora of North America species comparison

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Clarkia imbricata

Clarkia epilobioides

Vine Hill clarkia

canyon clarkia, willow-herb clarkia
Stems

erect, to 60 cm, glabrous or sparsely puberulent.

erect, 20–70 cm, sparsely puberulent.
Leaves

petiole 0–2 mm;

blade lanceolate, 2–2.5 cm.

petiole to 7 mm;

blade linear to narrowly lanceolate or oblanceolate, 1.5–2.5 cm.
Inflorescences

dense racemes, axis straight;

buds erect.

open racemes, sometimes few-branched, 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.

usually cleistogamous;

floral tube 1–3 mm;

sepals reflexed together to 1 side or in pairs;

corolla bowl-shaped, petals fading pink, obovate;

stamens 8, unequal, anthers white or cream, outer ones larger than inner.
Capsules

10–15 mm.

10–30 mm;

pedicel 5–11 mm.
Seeds

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

brown, 0.5–1 mm, scaly, crest inconspicuous.
2n

= 16.

= 18.

Clarkia imbricata

Clarkia epilobioides
Phenology Flowering Jun–Jul. Flowering Apr–May.
Habitat Clearings, roadsides, chaparral. Shady sites, woodlands, chaparral.
Elevation 50 m. (200 ft.) 0–1000 m. (0–3300 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; Mexico (Baja 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.)

Clarkia epilobioides is known from south-central Arizona in Gila, Maricopa, Pima, and Pinal counties, and widely in west-central and southwestern California and adjacent Baja California, Mexico. In California, it occurs from Contra Costa and San Mateo counties in the San Francisco Bay area to San Diego County in the south, including most of the Channel Islands.

Clarkia epilobioides is modally self-pollinating, and up to half of its flowers do not open, yet set a full complement of seeds (H. Lewis and M. E. Lewis 1955). However, outcrossing does occur, and C. epilobioides is one of the parents of the tetraploid species C. similis, from which it differs by having white, unflecked petals; it is also one of the parents of the tetraploid C. delicata.

(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. Godetia Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Clarkia > sect. Phaeostoma > subsect. Micranthae
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. biloba, C. borealis, C. bottae, C. breweri, C. concinna, C. cylindrica, C. davyi, C. delicata, C. dudleyana, 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 Oenothera epilobioides, Godetia epilobioides
Name authority H. Lewis & M. E. Lewis: Madroño 12: 38. (1953) (Nuttall ex Torrey & A. Gray) 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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