Flora of North America species comparison

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Clarkia rubicunda

Clarkia rhomboidea

farewell-to-spring, ruby chalice clarkia

common clarkia, diamond clarkia, diamond fairyfan, forest clarkia, rhombic petal clarkia, rhomboid farewell-to-spring, tongue clarkia
Stems

erect or decumbent, to 150 cm, puberulent;

buds erect.

erect, to 100 cm, puberulent.
Leaves

petiole to 10 mm;

blade lanceolate to elliptic, 1–4 cm.

petiole 5–25 mm;

blade lanceolate to elliptic or ovate, 1–6 cm.
Inflorescences

open or dense spikes or racemes, axis straight;

buds erect.

open racemes, axis in bud recurved 1–3 nodes distal to open flowers;

buds pendent, narrowly obovoid, tip acute to obtuse, often curved to one side.
Flowers

floral tube 4–10 mm;

sepals reflexed together to one side;

corolla bowl-shaped, petals pink to lavender, base red or purplish red, fan-shaped, 10–30 mm, apex erose;

stamens 8, subequal;

ovary cylindrical, 4-grooved, puberulent;

stigma exserted beyond anthers.

floral tube 1–3 mm;

sepals reflexed individually;

corolla rotate, petals pinkish lavender, often with darker flecks, narrowly to broadly obovate or rhombic, sometimes ± 3-lobed, 6–12(–14) × 3–7 mm;

stamens 8, subequal, subtended by ciliate scales, pollen blue-gray;

ovary shallowly 4-grooved;

stigma not or rarely exserted beyond anthers.
Capsules

20–40 mm;

pedicel 0–25(–40) mm.

10–25 mm;

pedicel 1–4 mm.
Seeds

brown to grayish brown, 1.2–1.5 mm, scaly, crest 0.2 mm.

brown, gray, or mottled, 1–1.5 mm, scaly-echinate, crest 0.1 mm, inconspicuous.
2n

= 14.

= 24.

Clarkia rubicunda

Clarkia rhomboidea
Phenology Flowering May–Aug. Flowering May–Sep.
Habitat Openings in woodlands, forests, chaparral, coastal scrub. Yellow-pine forests, woodlands.
Elevation 0–500 m. (0–1600 ft.) 0–3000 m. (0–9800 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WA; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Clarkia rubicunda is known from the central coast of California, from Contra Costa and Marin counties south along the coast and foothills to northern San Luis Obispo County.

Clarkia rubicunda is probably a derivative of C. amoena and may be ancestral to C. franciscana. Clarkia rubicunda is distinguishable from some populations of C. amoena only by the absence of a red spot or group of spots near the middle of the petal and the presence of a red area at the base of the petal. Clarkia rubicunda can be distinguished from C. franciscana by the position of the stigma and size and shape of the petals. All three species differ in chromosome arrangement and hybrids are highly sterile.

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

Clarkia rhomboidea is a tetraploid derived from C. mildrediae and C. virgata or a closely related species. The six diploid species in sect. Myxocarpa closely related to C. rhomboidea (C. australis, C. borealis, C. mildrediae, C. mosquinii, C. stellata, and C. virgata) are California endemics with relatively small areas of distribution, whereas C. rhomboidea occurs throughout much of the western United States and is morphologically much more variable. Clarkia rhomboidea characteristically has relatively small, self-pollinating flowers with the stigma in contact with the anthers. Among the diploid species only C. stellata has similar small, self-pollinating flowers but is distinguished by yellow pollen and petals with a shallowly 3-lobed blade that is not flecked. Rare populations of C. rhomboidea have relatively large flowers with the stigma exserted beyond the anthers. When they occur within the geographical range of the outcrossing diploid species, they may be difficult to distinguish without determining chromosome number.

(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. Rhodanthos > subsect. Primigenia Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Clarkia > sect. Myxocarpa
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. prostrata, C. pulchella, C. purpurea, C. rhomboidea, C. rostrata, 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. pulchella, C. purpurea, C. rostrata, C. rubicunda, C. similis, C. speciosa, C. springvillensis, C. stellata, C. tembloriensis, C. unguiculata, C. virgata, C. williamsonii, C. xantiana
Synonyms Godetia rubicunda, C. rubicunda subsp. blasdalei, G. blasdalei
Name authority (Lindley) H. Lewis & M. E. Lewis: Madroño 12: 34. (1953) Douglas in W. J. Hooker: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 214. (1832)
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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