Clarkia purpurea
Clarkia lewisii
purple clarkia, winecup clarkia, winecup fairyfan
Lewis' clarkia
erect or rarely decumbent, to 100 cm, glabrous and sometimes glaucous or sparsely to densely puberulent, sometimes mixed with longer, spreading hairs.
erect, to 50 cm, puberulent to glabrate.
petiole 0–2 mm;
blade linear or narrowly lanceolate to elliptic or ovate, 1.5–7 cm.
petiole to 7 mm;
blade narrowly lanceolate to lanceolate, 2–5 cm.
open or dense racemes, axis straight;
buds erect.
open racemes, axis recurved at tip in bud;
buds pendent.
floral tube 2–10 mm;
sepals reflexed individually or in pairs;
corolla bowl-shaped, petals lavender to purple, purplish red, or dark wine-red, often with red or purple spot near middle, tip, or base, 9–25 mm;
stamens 8, subequal;
ovary 8-grooved, length less than 8 times width;
stigma as long as or exserted beyond anthers.
floral tube 1.5–4 mm, with ring of hairs at distal margin inside;
sepals reflexed together to 1 side;
corolla bowl-shaped, petals pinkish lavender shading white near middle, base purplish red or with red line, sometimes reddish purple-flecked, 10–30 mm;
stamens 8, unequal, width of all filaments subequal or inner slightly thinner, outer anthers lavender, inner smaller, paler.
10–30 mm, beak 0–2 mm.
15–70 mm, beak 0–3 mm.
brown or gray, 1–2 mm, scaly, crest 0.2 mm.
brown, 1 mm, scaly to puberulent, crest inconspicuous.
= 18.
Clarkia purpurea
Clarkia lewisii
Subspecies 3 (3 in the flora).
Clarkia purpurea consists of a diverse assemblage of hexaploid populations and is almost certainly derived from multiple origins followed by hybridization and, perhaps, backcrossing to parental species. Three morphological forms are recognized as subspecies; intergrades are frequent.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Clarkia lewisii is known primarily from Monterey County, sparsely in San Benito County, barely reaching Santa Clara County, and is listed as rare by the California Native Plant Society. It is most closely related and morphologically similar to C. cylindrica, from which it can be distinguished by having all filaments about equally wide and a ring of hairs at the rim of the floral tube; outer filaments of C. cylindrica are two times as wide as the inner ones, and the ring of hairs is within the tube below the rim. Clarkia lewisii is also closely related to C. rostrata, from which it differs conspicuously by having a much shorter capsule beak.
Clarkia lewisii is a new name applied to the species known until 1978 as C. bottae, following examination and reinterpretation of the type of Godetia bottae Spach by P. H. Raven and D. R. Parnell (1978). They determined that the type specimens of G. bottae actually referred to the species then known as C. deflexa (Jepson) H. Lewis & M. E. Lewis, and reapplied the name C. bottae to that species in sect. Fibula.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Leaf blades broadly lanceolate to elliptic or ovate; inflorescences dense racemes. | subsp. purpurea |
1. Leaf blades linear to lanceolate or narrowly lanceolate; inflorescences usually open racemes. | → 2 |
2. Petals 15–25 mm; stigmas exserted beyond anthers. | subsp. viminea |
2. Petals 9–14 mm; stigmas not exserted beyond anthers. | subsp. quadrivulnera |
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