Clarkia mildrediae
Onagraceae subfam. onagroideae
Mildred's clarkia
erect, to 100 cm, puberulent.
petiole 15–40 mm;
blade elliptic to ovate, 3–6 cm.
stipules present or absent.
open racemes, axis recurved in bud, straight only 1–3 nodes distal to open flowers;
buds pendent, tip acute.
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 present or, rarely, absent;
sepals 2 or 4 (very rarely 3), deciduous with floral tube, petals, and stamens;
petals yellow, white, pink, red, rarely in combination.
20–30 mm;
pedicel 0–5 mm.
brown or gray, 1.5–1.8 mm, scaly-echinate, crest 0.1 mm.
Clarkia mildrediae
Onagraceae subfam. onagroideae
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.)
Genera 21, species 582 (16 genera, 246 species in the flora).
Onagroideae encompass the main lineage of the family, after the early branching of Ludwigia (R. A. Levin et al. 2003, 2004). This large and diverse lineage is distinguished by the presence of a floral tube beyond the apex of the ovary; sepals deciduous with the floral tube, petals, and stamens; pollen shed in monads (or tetrads in Chylismia sect. Lignothera and all but one species of Epilobium); ovular vascular system exclusively transseptal (R. H. Eyde 1981); ovule archesporium multicellular (H. Tobe and P. H. Raven 1996); and change in base chromosome number from x = 8 in Ludwigia to x = 10 or x = 11 at the base of Onagroideae (Raven 1979; Levin et al. 2003). Molecular work (Levin et al. 2003, 2004) substantially supports the traditional tribal classification (P. A. Munz 1965; Raven 1979, 1988); tribes are recognized to delimit major branches within the phylogeny of Onagroideae, where the branches comprise strongly supported monophyletic groups of one or more genera.
(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
