Clarkia stellata
Clarkia borealis
Lake Almanor clarkia, lake amador clarkia
northern clarkia
erect, to 100 cm, puberulent.
erect, to 100 cm, puberulent.
petiole 5–30 mm;
blade lanceolate to elliptic or ovate, 1–5 cm.
petiole 15–40 mm;
blade elliptic to ovate, 2–6 cm.
open racemes, axis in bud recurved 1–3 nodes distal to open flowers;
buds pendent, narrowly obovoid, tip acute.
open racemes, axis recurved only at tip in bud, straight 4+ nodes distal to open flowers;
buds pendent, fusiform, base slightly swollen, tip acute.
floral tube 1.5–2 mm;
sepals reflexed individually;
corolla rotate, petals lavender-purple, not dark-flecked or spotted, obovate, 6–8 × 3–5 mm, inconspicuously 3-lobed;
stamens 8, subequal, subtended by ciliate scales, pollen yellow;
ovary shallowly 4-grooved, puberulent;
stigma not exserted beyond anthers.
floral tube 2–4 mm;
sepals reflexed individually;
corolla rotate, petals lavender-pink, often dark-flecked, obdeltate to suborbiculate, unlobed, 13–19 ×7–12 mm, length 1.6–2 times width;
stamens 8, subequal, subtended by ciliate scales, pollen blue-gray;
ovary shallowly 4-grooved, puberulent;
stigma exserted beyond anthers.
20–25 mm;
pedicel 1–3 mm.
20–30 mm;
pedicel 0–3 mm.
unknown.
light brown or mottled with dark spots, 1.5–2.5 mm, minutely tuberculate, crest 0.2 mm.
= 14.
Clarkia stellata
Clarkia borealis
Clarkia stellata is known from the southern Cascade–northern Sierra Nevada region, including Lassen, Nevada, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, and Tehama counties (with unverified reports from Butte and Modoc counties).
Clarkia stellata is probably a self-pollinating derivative of C. mildrediae subsp. lutescens, to judge from pollen color. The two species are readily distinguishedby the much smaller flowers of C. stellata and the position of the stigma. Hybrids have low fertility due to chromosomal rearrangement. Clarkia stellata is morphologically very similar to the self-pollinating tetraploid C. rhomboidea but can be distinguished from it by yellow pollen and shallowly lobed, unspotted petals.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora).
Clarkia borealis is closely related, and possibly ancestral, to C. mildrediae. The two species can be distinguished most readily by the degree of curvature of the inflorescence and the petal color.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Seeds 1.5–1.8 mm. | subsp. borealis |
1. Seeds 1.8–2.5 mm. | subsp. arida |
CA
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
