Flora of North America species comparison

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Clarkia prostrata

Clarkia delicata

prostrate clarkia

campo clarkia, delicate clarkia
Stems

prostrate or decumbent, to 50 cm, sparsely puberulent.

erect, 20–70 cm, glabrous and glaucous distally, usually puberulent basally.
Leaves

sessile or subsessile;

blade oblanceolate to elliptic, 1–2.5 cm, apex usually obtuse.

petiole to 10 mm;

blade lanceolate to elliptic or ovate, 1.5–4 cm.
Inflorescences

prostrate, dense racemes, axis straight;

buds erect.

open racemes, sometimes branched, axis straight;

buds pendent.
Flowers

floral tube 4–7 mm;

sepals usually reflexed in pairs;

corolla bowl-shaped, petals lavender-pink shading pale yellow basally, with reddish purple spot above base, 10–15 mm;

stamens 8, subequal;

ovary 8-grooved;

stigma not exserted beyond anthers.

floral tube 2 mm;

sepals reflexed together to 1 side;

corolla rotate, petals oblanceolate to obovate, 8–12 mm, claw tapered, shorter than blade, apex entire;

stamens 8, unequal, outer anthers orange-red, inner smaller, paler.
Capsules

20–30 mm.

15–35 mm;

subsessile.
Seeds

brown or gray, 1–1.5 mm, scaly, crest 0.2 mm.

brown, 1–1.5 mm, tuberculate (especially on raphe), crest inconspicuous.
2n

= 52.

= 36.

Clarkia prostrata

Clarkia delicata
Phenology Flowering May–Jul. Flowering Apr–May.
Habitat Coastal bluffs in grasslands and closed-cone pine forests. Oak woodlands, chaparral.
Elevation 0–100 m. (0–300 ft.) 0–1000 m. (0–3300 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Clarkia prostrata, like C. davyi, occurs only on coastal bluffs and adjacent low elevation pine forests along the Pacific coast, and in this case only in the California Central Coast Subregion in Monterey, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, and San Luis Obispo counties.

Clarkia prostrata is a hexaploid that combines the tetraploid genome of C. davyi and the diploid genome of C. speciosa. Clarkia prostrata is morphologically and ecologically very similar to C. davyi but can usually be distinguished by its larger flowers with a spot on each petal. It differs from C. speciosa by having smaller flowers with the stigma not exserted beyond the anthers.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Clarkia delicata is known in California only from the Peninsular Ranges, mainly in San Diego County with outliers in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, and in northern Baja California, Mexico. Because of its limited range, it is listed as rare by the California Native Plant Society. It is a tetraploid derived from hybridization between C. epilobioides and C. unguiculata.

(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. Godetia Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Clarkia > sect. Phaeostoma > subsect. Connubium
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. modesta, C. mosquinii, 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. 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. 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
Synonyms Godetia delicata
Name authority H. Lewis & M. E. Lewis: Madroño 12: 36. (1953) (Abrams) A. Nelson & J. F. Macbride: Bot. Gaz. 65: 60. (1905)
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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