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Vine Hill clarkia

elegant clarkia, mountain Garland, woodland clarkia

Stems

erect, to 60 cm, glabrous or sparsely puberulent.

erect, 30–100 cm, glabrous, glaucous.

Leaves

petiole 0–2 mm;

blade lanceolate, 2–2.5 cm.

petiole 0–10 mm;

blade lanceolate to elliptic or ovate, 1–6 cm.

Inflorescences

dense racemes, axis straight;

buds erect.

open racemes, sometimes branched, axis erect;

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 2–5 mm;

sepals reflexed together to 1 side, green to dark red, sparsely to densely puberulent abaxially, with longer, straight, spreading hairs to 3 mm;

corolla rotate, petals lavender-pink to salmon or dark reddish purple, triangular or diamond-shaped to suborbiculate, 10–25 mm, claw slender, equal to or longer than blade, entire, rarely somewhat expanded at base;

stamens 8, unequal, outer anthers red, inner smaller, paler;

ovary with hairs as on sepals;

stigma exserted beyond anthers.

Capsules

10–15 mm.

15–30 mm.

Seeds

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

brown, 1–1.5 mm, tuberculate, crest inconspicuous.

2n

= 16.

= 18.

Clarkia imbricata

Clarkia unguiculata

Phenology Flowering Jun–Jul. Flowering Apr–Sep.
Habitat Clearings, roadsides, chaparral. Woodlands.
Elevation 50 m. (200 ft.) 0–1500 m. (0–4900 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[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 unguiculata is a widely distributed species in California, and occurs throughout much of the southern two-thirds of the state in appropriate woodland habitats.

Clarkia unguiculata is ancestral to C. exilis, C. springvillensis, and C. tembloriensis. It is one of the parents of the tetraploid species C. delicata and may have been involved in the origin of C. heterandra.

(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. Phaeostoma
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. speciosa, C. springvillensis, C. stellata, C. tembloriensis, C. virgata, C. williamsonii, C. xantiana
Name authority H. Lewis & M. E. Lewis: Madroño 12: 38. (1953) Lindley: Edwards’s Bot. Reg. 23: sub plate 1981. (1837)
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