Clarkia mildrediae
Clarkia pulchella
Mildred's clarkia
deer horn, deerhorn clarkia, elk horn clarkia, elkhorns clarkia, large-flower clarkia, pink fairies, ragged robin
erect, to 100 cm, puberulent.
erect, to 50 cm, glabrous or puberulent.
petiole 15–40 mm;
blade elliptic to ovate, 3–6 cm.
petiole 0–10 mm;
blade linear to lanceolate, 2–8 cm.
open racemes, axis recurved in bud, straight only 1–3 nodes distal to open flowers;
buds pendent, tip acute.
racemes, axis straight or recurved;
buds pendent.
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 minutely strigillose in distal 1/2 inside;
sepals reflexed together to1 side;
corolla rotate, petals very broadly fan-shaped, 10–30 mm, lateral lobes 1–5 mm;
stamens 8, unequal, 4 fertile, 4 sterile and reduced, subtended by puberulent scales, outer anthers lavender to white, inner much smaller, sterile;
ovary shallowly 8-grooved;
stigma exserted beyond anthers.
20–30 mm;
pedicel 0–5 mm.
10–30 mm;
pedicel 3–10 mm.
brown or gray, 1.5–1.8 mm, scaly-echinate, crest 0.1 mm.
dark brown, 1 mm, scaly, crest to 0.1 mm, inconspicuous.
= 24.
Clarkia mildrediae
Clarkia pulchella
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 pulchella is the only North American species in the genus that does not occur in California; instead it is found throughout most of eastern Oregon and Washington, western Idaho, and northwestern Montana, to southern British Columbia, with disjunct occurrences in Bannock County in Idaho, Teton County in Wyoming, and Meade County in South Dakota. It was first discovered in 1806 by Meriwether Lewis during the Lewis and Clark expedition, and was the first species named in the new genus Clarkia.
Clarkia pulchella is an allopolyploid that combines morphological characteristics of sect. Myxocarpa (C. borealis and relatives), which includes two species with 2n = 10, and sect. Eucharidium (C. concinna and C. breweri) with 2n = 14. Molecular data support a relationship with sect. Eucharidium but at present show no direct association with sect. Myxocarpa.
Clarkia elegans Poiret is an illegitimate name that pertains here.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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 |
CA
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
BC
OR
WA
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
