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Mildred's clarkia

speckled clarkia, speckled fairyfan

Stems

erect, to 100 cm, puberulent.

erect, to 60 cm, puberulent or glabrous.

Leaves

petiole 15–40 mm;

blade elliptic to ovate, 3–6 cm.

petiole to 5 mm;

blade linear to narrowly lanceolate, 1–6 cm.

Inflorescences

open racemes, axis recurved in bud, straight only 1–3 nodes distal to open flowers;

buds pendent, tip acute.

open racemes, axis recurved at tip in bud;

buds pendent.

Flowers

floral tube 2–3 mm;

sepals usually reflexed individually;

corolla rotate, petals reddish purple, often darker flecked or spotted, narrowly obdeltate to suborbiculate, unlobed, 11–25 × 7–18 mm, length 1.4–1.6 times width;

stamens 8, subequal, subtended by ciliate scales, anthers magenta or orange-red to yellow, pollen blue-gray or bright yellow to tan;

ovary shallowly 4-grooved, puberulent;

stigma exserted beyond anthers.

floral tube 2–7 mm, with ring of hairs proximal to distal margin inside;

sepals reflexed together to 1 side;

corolla bowl-shaped, petals purple to pinkish lavender shading white near middle, often reddish purple-flecked, base bright purplish red, 10–35 mm;

stamens 8, unequal, width of outer filaments about 2 times inner, outer anthers lavender, inner smaller, paler.

Capsules

20–30 mm;

pedicel 0–5 mm.

20–50 mm, beak 3–5 mm.

Seeds

brown or gray, 1.5–1.8 mm, scaly-echinate, crest 0.1 mm.

brown, 1–1.5 mm, minutely scaly to puberulent, crest 0.1 mm.

Clarkia mildrediae

Clarkia cylindrica

Distribution
from USDA
California
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from USDA
California
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora).

Clarkia mildrediae is closely related to, and may be derived from, C. borealis. Clarkia mildrediae subsp. lutescens is probably the direct ancestor of C. stellata. Clarkia mildrediae differs from C. borealis in petal color and inflorescence habit and from C. stellata in flower size and position of the stigma. On the basis of morphology, chromosome number and pairing, C. mildrediae appears to be one of the parents of the tetraploid species C. rhomboidea.

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

Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora).

As defined by Davis, the subspecies of Clarkia cylindrica have distinct but partly overlapping geographical ranges; subsp. cylindrica mainly in the South Coast and Transverse Ranges to the Tehachapi Mountain area, and subsp. clavicarpa mainly in the central and southern Sierra Nevada Foothills to the Tehachapi Mountain area. More recent collections suggest more substantial geographical overlap. Morphological variation correlates with geographical distribution, with the most consistent difference in ovary and capsule shape. According to Davis, the taxa are moderately interfertile, less so for more distantly separated individuals.

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

Key
1. Petals 12–18 mm wide; anthers magenta, fresh pollen blue-gray.
subsp. mildrediae
1. Petals 7–16 mm wide; anthers yellow to orange-red, fresh pollen bright yellow to tan.
subsp. lutescens
1. Ovaries and capsules cylindrical.
subsp. cylindrica
1. Ovaries and capsules subclavate, enlarged distally.
subsp. clavicarpa
Source FNA vol. 10. FNA vol. 10.
Parent taxa Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Clarkia > sect. Myxocarpa Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Clarkia > sect. Phaeostoma > subsect. Sympherica
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. lewisii, C. lingulata, 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. 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. unguiculata, C. virgata, C. williamsonii, C. xantiana
Subordinate taxa
C. mildrediae subsp. lutescens, C. mildrediae subsp. mildrediae
C. cylindrica subsp. clavicarpa, C. cylindrica subsp. cylindrica
Synonyms Phaeostoma mildrediae Godetiabottae spach var. cylindrica
Name authority (A. Heller) H. Lewis & M. E. Lewis: Madroño 12: 34. (1953) (Jepson) H. Lewis & M. E. Lewis: Madroño 12: 33. (1953) — (as cyclindrica)
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