Flora of North America species comparison

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Clarkia mildrediae

Clarkia franciscana

Mildred's clarkia

Presidio clarkia
Stems

erect, to 100 cm, puberulent.

erect, to 40 cm, strigillose.
Leaves

petiole 15–40 mm;

blade elliptic to ovate, 3–6 cm.

petiole 0–5 mm;

blade narrowly lanceolate, 1–5.5 cm.
Inflorescences

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

buds pendent, tip acute.

racemes, axis straight;

buds erect.
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 1–3 mm;

sepals reflexed together to one side;

corolla bowl-shaped, petals lavender-pink shading white near middle, base bright reddish purple, fan-shaped, 5–13 mm, apex erose;

stamens 8, subequal;

ovary cylindrical, 4-grooved, puberulent;

stigma not exserted beyond anthers.
Capsules

20–30 mm;

pedicel 0–5 mm.

20–40 mm;

pedicel 0–15 mm.
Seeds

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

gray, 1.2–1.5 mm, scaly, crest 0.2 mm.
2n

= 14.

Clarkia mildrediae

Clarkia franciscana
Phenology Flowering May–Jun.
Habitat Serpentine soil.
Elevation 50 m. (200 ft.)
Distribution
from USDA
California
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[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.)

Clarkia franciscana is an endangered species (designated rare by the California Native Plant Society), restricted to serpentine soils in coastal grass and shrub communities. The only known localities for it are the Presidio in San Francisco County, and the Oakland Hills in Alameda and Contra Costa counties.

Geographic distribution and petal color pattern suggest that Clarkia franciscana may be a self-pollinating derivative of C. rubicunda. If true, enzyme studies indicate that the origin is not recent.

Clarkia franciscana is in the Center for Plant Conservation’s National Collection of Endangered Plants.

(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
Source FNA vol. 10. FNA vol. 10.
Parent taxa Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Clarkia > sect. Myxocarpa 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. 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. cylindrica, C. davyi, C. delicata, C. dudleyana, C. epilobioides, C. exilis, 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
Synonyms Phaeostoma mildrediae
Name authority (A. Heller) H. Lewis & M. E. Lewis: Madroño 12: 34. (1953) H. Lewis & P. H. Raven: Brittonia 10: 7, fig. 1a, b, d. (1958)
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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