Flora of North America species comparison

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Clarkia lewisii

Clarkia modesta

Lewis' clarkia

Waltham Creek clarkia
Stems

erect, to 50 cm, puberulent to glabrate.

erect, 20–70 cm, puberulent.
Leaves

petiole to 7 mm;

blade narrowly lanceolate to lanceolate, 2–5 cm.

petiole 5–15 mm;

blade linear to narrowly lanceolate or elliptic, 2–4 cm.
Inflorescences

open racemes, axis recurved at tip in bud;

buds pendent.

open racemes, axis recurved at tip in bud;

buds pendent.
Flowers

floral tube 1.5–4 mm, with ring of hairs at distal margin inside;

sepals reflexed together to 1 side;

corolla bowl-shaped, petals pinkish lavender shading white near middle, base purplish red or with red line, sometimes reddish purple-flecked, 10–30 mm;

stamens 8, unequal, width of all filaments subequal or inner slightly thinner, outer anthers lavender, inner smaller, paler.

floral tube 1–3 mm;

sepals reflexed together to 1 side;

corolla generally rotate, petals usually arranged in lateral pairs, pink, usually darker flecked, oblanceolate to diamond-shaped, scarcely clawed, 8–12 mm;

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

15–70 mm, beak 0–3 mm.

15–30 mm.
Seeds

brown, 1 mm, scaly to puberulent, crest inconspicuous.

brown, 0.8–1 mm, tuberculate, crest inconspicuous.
2n

= 18.

= 16.

Clarkia lewisii

Clarkia modesta
Phenology Flowering Jun. Flowering Apr–Jun.
Habitat Coastal scrub, woodlands, chaparral. Sandy places in woodlands.
Elevation 0–300 m. (0–1000 ft.) 0–1000 m. (0–3300 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Clarkia lewisii is known primarily from Monterey County, sparsely in San Benito County, barely reaching Santa Clara County, and is listed as rare by the California Native Plant Society. It is most closely related and morphologically similar to C. cylindrica, from which it can be distinguished by having all filaments about equally wide and a ring of hairs at the rim of the floral tube; outer filaments of C. cylindrica are two times as wide as the inner ones, and the ring of hairs is within the tube below the rim. Clarkia lewisii is also closely related to C. rostrata, from which it differs conspicuously by having a much shorter capsule beak.

Clarkia lewisii is a new name applied to the species known until 1978 as C. bottae, following examination and reinterpretation of the type of Godetia bottae Spach by P. H. Raven and D. R. Parnell (1978). They determined that the type specimens of G. bottae actually referred to the species then known as C. deflexa (Jepson) H. Lewis & M. E. Lewis, and reapplied the name C. bottae to that species in sect. Fibula.

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

Clarkia modesta occurs mainly in the Inner North Coast Ranges, the San Francisco Bay area, and the South Coast Ranges, from Trinity to Santa Barbara counties, and in the central and southern Sierra Nevada Foothills, from Mariposa to Tulare counties.

Clarkia modesta is one of the parents of the tetraploid species C. similis, from which it differs by having darker pink petals.

(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. Sympherica 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. imbricata, C. jolonensis, C. lassenensis, 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. 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
Name authority P. H. Raven & D. R. Parnell: Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 64: 642. (1978) Jepson: Man. Fl. Pl. Calif., 673. (1925)
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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