Clarkia pulchella
Clarkia biloba
deer horn, deerhorn clarkia, elk horn clarkia, elkhorns clarkia, large-flower clarkia, pink fairies, ragged robin
two lobed clarkia, twolobe clarkia
erect, to 50 cm, glabrous or puberulent.
erect, 30–100 cm, strigillose.
petiole 0–10 mm;
blade linear to lanceolate, 2–8 cm.
petiole to 15 mm;
blade linear to lanceolate, 2–8 cm.
racemes, axis straight or recurved;
buds pendent.
open racemes, axis recurved at tip in bud;
buds pendent.
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.
floral tube 1–4 mm;
sepals reflexed together to 1 side;
corolla rotate to bowl-shaped, petals purplish to pale pink, lavender, or bright pink to magenta, often red-flecked, broadly to narrowly fan-shaped, 10–25 mm, shallowly to deeply 2-lobed;
stamens 8, unequal, outer anthers lavender, inner ones smaller, paler.
10–30 mm;
pedicel 3–10 mm.
10–25 mm.
dark brown, 1 mm, scaly, crest to 0.1 mm, inconspicuous.
brown, 1 mm, minutely scaly to puberulent, crest inconspicuous.
= 24.
Clarkia pulchella
Clarkia biloba
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.)
Subspecies 3 (3 in the flora).
Clarkia biloba is most closely related to C. lingulata, which is derived from C. biloba subsp. australis. Some populations of C. biloba subsp. brandegeeae (originally described as a form of C. dudleyana) are morphologically very similar to some individuals of C. dudleyana but the two taxa are separated geographically, have different chromosome numbers, and hybrids between them are sterile.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Petals bright pink to magenta, narrowly fan-shaped, length greater than 1.5 times width. | subsp. australis |
1. Petals lavender to pale or purplish pink, broadly fan-shaped, length not greater than 1.5 times width. | → 2 |
2. Petals purplish to pale pink, deeply 2-lobed, lobes usually 1/5–1/2 petal length. | subsp. biloba |
2. Petals lavender, shallowly 2-lobed, lobes usually less than 1/5 petal length, sometimes obscure. | subsp. brandegeeae |
BC
OR
WA
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
CA
