Clarkia mildrediae
Clarkia rhomboidea
Mildred's clarkia
common clarkia, diamond clarkia, diamond fairyfan, forest clarkia, rhombic petal clarkia, rhomboid farewell-to-spring, tongue clarkia
erect, to 100 cm, puberulent.
erect, to 100 cm, puberulent.
petiole 15–40 mm;
blade elliptic to ovate, 3–6 cm.
petiole 5–25 mm;
blade lanceolate to elliptic or ovate, 1–6 cm.
open racemes, axis recurved in bud, straight only 1–3 nodes distal to open flowers;
buds pendent, tip acute.
open racemes, axis in bud recurved 1–3 nodes distal to open flowers;
buds pendent, narrowly obovoid, tip acute to obtuse, often curved to one side.
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 individually;
corolla rotate, petals pinkish lavender, often with darker flecks, narrowly to broadly obovate or rhombic, sometimes ± 3-lobed, 6–12(–14) × 3–7 mm;
stamens 8, subequal, subtended by ciliate scales, pollen blue-gray;
ovary shallowly 4-grooved;
stigma not or rarely exserted beyond anthers.
20–30 mm;
pedicel 0–5 mm.
10–25 mm;
pedicel 1–4 mm.
brown or gray, 1.5–1.8 mm, scaly-echinate, crest 0.1 mm.
brown, gray, or mottled, 1–1.5 mm, scaly-echinate, crest 0.1 mm, inconspicuous.
= 24.
Clarkia mildrediae
Clarkia rhomboidea
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 rhomboidea is a tetraploid derived from C. mildrediae and C. virgata or a closely related species. The six diploid species in sect. Myxocarpa closely related to C. rhomboidea (C. australis, C. borealis, C. mildrediae, C. mosquinii, C. stellata, and C. virgata) are California endemics with relatively small areas of distribution, whereas C. rhomboidea occurs throughout much of the western United States and is morphologically much more variable. Clarkia rhomboidea characteristically has relatively small, self-pollinating flowers with the stigma in contact with the anthers. Among the diploid species only C. stellata has similar small, self-pollinating flowers but is distinguished by yellow pollen and petals with a shallowly 3-lobed blade that is not flecked. Rare populations of C. rhomboidea have relatively large flowers with the stigma exserted beyond the anthers. When they occur within the geographical range of the outcrossing diploid species, they may be difficult to distinguish without determining chromosome number.
(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 |
- Local floras:
BC, 
CA, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos,
Flora NW, 
PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
