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Mildred's clarkia

Photo is of parent taxon

Mildred's clarkia

Stems

erect, to 100 cm, puberulent.

Leaves

petiole 15–40 mm;

blade elliptic to ovate, 3–6 cm.

Inflorescences

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

buds pendent, tip acute.

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.

petals 7–16 mm wide;

anthers yellow to orange-red, fresh pollen bright yellow to tan.

Capsules

20–30 mm;

pedicel 0–5 mm.

Seeds

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

2n

= 14.

Clarkia mildrediae

Clarkia mildrediae subsp. lutescens

Phenology Flowering Jun–Jul.
Habitat Yellow-pine forests.
Elevation 400–1700 m. (1300–5600 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.)

The distribution of subsp. lutescens overlaps with that of subsp. mildrediae in Butte and Plumas counties, but extends farther to the southeast into Sierra and Yuba counties.

(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. Myxocarpa > Clarkia mildrediae
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. mildrediae subsp. mildrediae
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) Gottlieb & Janeway: Madroño 44: 250, fig. 1 [top]. (1998)
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