Flora of North America species comparison

The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Clarkia imbricata

Clarkia speciosa

Vine Hill clarkia

red spotted clarkia, red spotted or redspot clarkia, redspot clarkia
Stems

erect, to 60 cm, glabrous or sparsely puberulent.

erect or decumbent, to 60 cm, puberulent.
Leaves

petiole 0–2 mm;

blade lanceolate, 2–2.5 cm.

petiole 0–5 mm;

blade linear to lanceolate, 1–6 cm.
Inflorescences

dense racemes, axis straight;

buds erect.

open or dense racemes or panicles, axis straight;

buds erect.
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 5–15 mm;

sepals usually reflexed individually or in pairs, or rarely together to one side, tips not distinct in bud;

corolla bowl-shaped, petals lavender to wine-red, often shading white or pale yellow toward base, unspotted or with bright red or purplish red spot near or proximal to middle, 10–25 mm;

stamens 8, subequal;

ovary 8-grooved;

stigma exserted beyond anthers.
Capsules

10–15 mm.

15–20 mm.
Seeds

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

brown or gray, 0.7–1 mm, scaly, crest 0.1 mm.
2n

= 16.

Clarkia imbricata

Clarkia speciosa
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 4 (4 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Petals without red or purplish red spot.
→ 2
2. Stems erect to decumbent; petals dark purplish red to lavender, ± white or pale yellow near base, rarely pale yellow throughout.
subsp. speciosa
2. Stems decumbent; petals lavender to pink shading pale yellow or white in proximal 1/2.
subsp. immaculata
1. Petals with bright red or purplish red spot near or proximal to middle.
→ 3
3. Inflorescences dense racemes.
subsp. nitens
3. Inflorescences open racemes or panicles.
→ 4
4. Petals usually with bright red spot; branches on well-developed plants many, few-flowered.
subsp. speciosa
4. Petals with purplish red spot; branches on well-developed plants virgate, few, many- flowered.
subsp. polyantha
Source FNA vol. 10. FNA vol. 10.
Parent taxa Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Clarkia > sect. Godetia Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Clarkia > sect. Godetia
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. 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. springvillensis, C. stellata, C. tembloriensis, C. unguiculata, C. virgata, C. williamsonii, C. xantiana
Subordinate taxa
C. speciosa subsp. immaculata, C. speciosa subsp. nitens, C. speciosa subsp. polyantha, C. speciosa subsp. speciosa
Synonyms Oenothera viminea var. parviflora, Godetia parviflora
Name authority H. Lewis & M. E. Lewis: Madroño 12: 38. (1953) 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).



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

Choose a data source: Flora of North America

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers