Flora of North America species comparison

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Clarkia lewisii

Clarkia rubicunda

Lewis' clarkia

farewell-to-spring, ruby chalice clarkia
Stems

erect, to 50 cm, puberulent to glabrate.

erect or decumbent, to 150 cm, puberulent;

buds erect.
Leaves

petiole to 7 mm;

blade narrowly lanceolate to lanceolate, 2–5 cm.

petiole to 10 mm;

blade lanceolate to elliptic, 1–4 cm.
Inflorescences

open racemes, axis recurved at tip in bud;

buds pendent.

open or dense spikes or racemes, axis straight;

buds erect.
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 4–10 mm;

sepals reflexed together to one side;

corolla bowl-shaped, petals pink to lavender, base red or purplish red, fan-shaped, 10–30 mm, apex erose;

stamens 8, subequal;

ovary cylindrical, 4-grooved, puberulent;

stigma exserted beyond anthers.
Capsules

15–70 mm, beak 0–3 mm.

20–40 mm;

pedicel 0–25(–40) mm.
Seeds

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

brown to grayish brown, 1.2–1.5 mm, scaly, crest 0.2 mm.
2n

= 18.

= 14.

Clarkia lewisii

Clarkia rubicunda
Phenology Flowering Jun. Flowering May–Aug.
Habitat Coastal scrub, woodlands, chaparral. Openings in woodlands, forests, chaparral, coastal scrub.
Elevation 0–300 m. (0–1000 ft.) 0–500 m. (0–1600 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 rubicunda is known from the central coast of California, from Contra Costa and Marin counties south along the coast and foothills to northern San Luis Obispo County.

Clarkia rubicunda is probably a derivative of C. amoena and may be ancestral to C. franciscana. Clarkia rubicunda is distinguishable from some populations of C. amoena only by the absence of a red spot or group of spots near the middle of the petal and the presence of a red area at the base of the petal. Clarkia rubicunda can be distinguished from C. franciscana by the position of the stigma and size and shape of the petals. All three species differ in chromosome arrangement and hybrids are highly sterile.

(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. Rhodanthos > subsect. Primigenia
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. modesta, C. mosquinii, C. prostrata, C. pulchella, C. purpurea, C. rhomboidea, C. rostrata, C. similis, C. speciosa, C. springvillensis, C. stellata, C. tembloriensis, C. unguiculata, C. virgata, C. williamsonii, C. xantiana
Synonyms Godetia rubicunda, C. rubicunda subsp. blasdalei, G. blasdalei
Name authority P. H. Raven & D. R. Parnell: Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 64: 642. (1978) (Lindley) 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).



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