Flora of North America species comparison

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Clarkia modesta

Clarkia pulchella

Waltham Creek clarkia

deer horn, deerhorn clarkia, elk horn clarkia, elkhorns clarkia, large-flower clarkia, pink fairies, ragged robin
Stems

erect, 20–70 cm, puberulent.

erect, to 50 cm, glabrous or puberulent.
Leaves

petiole 5–15 mm;

blade linear to narrowly lanceolate or elliptic, 2–4 cm.

petiole 0–10 mm;

blade linear to lanceolate, 2–8 cm.
Inflorescences

open racemes, axis recurved at tip in bud;

buds pendent.

racemes, axis straight or recurved;

buds pendent.
Flowers

floral tube 1–3 mm;

sepals reflexed together to 1 side;

corolla generally rotate, petals usually arranged in lateral pairs, pink, usually darker flecked, oblanceolate to diamond-shaped, scarcely clawed, 8–12 mm;

stamens 8, unequal, outer anthers lavender, inner smaller, paler.

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.
Capsules

15–30 mm.

10–30 mm;

pedicel 3–10 mm.
Seeds

brown, 0.8–1 mm, tuberculate, crest inconspicuous.

dark brown, 1 mm, scaly, crest to 0.1 mm, inconspicuous.
2n

= 16.

= 24.

Clarkia modesta

Clarkia pulchella
Phenology Flowering Apr–Jun. Flowering May–Jul.
Habitat Sandy places in woodlands. Openings in sagebrush and coniferous forests.
Elevation 0–1000 m. (0–3300 ft.) 500–2200 m. (1600–7200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
ID; MT; OR; SD; WA; WY; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Clarkia modesta occurs mainly in the Inner North Coast Ranges, the San Francisco Bay area, and the South Coast Ranges, from Trinity to Santa Barbara counties, and in the central and southern Sierra Nevada Foothills, from Mariposa to Tulare counties.

Clarkia modesta is one of the parents of the tetraploid species C. similis, from which it differs by having darker pink petals.

(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.)
Source FNA vol. 10. FNA vol. 10.
Parent taxa Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Clarkia > sect. Phaeostoma > subsect. Lautiflorae Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Clarkia > sect. Clarkia
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. mildrediae, 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. franciscana, C. gracilis, C. heterandra, C. imbricata, C. jolonensis, C. lassenensis, C. lewisii, C. lingulata, C. mildrediae, C. modesta, C. mosquinii, C. prostrata, 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
Name authority Jepson: Man. Fl. Pl. Calif., 673. (1925) Pursh: Fl. Amer. Sept. 1: 260, plate 11. (1813) — (as Clarckia)
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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