Flora of North America species comparison

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Clarkia unguiculata

Clarkia prostrata

elegant clarkia, mountain Garland, woodland clarkia

prostrate clarkia
Stems

erect, 30–100 cm, glabrous, glaucous.

prostrate or decumbent, to 50 cm, sparsely puberulent.
Leaves

petiole 0–10 mm;

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

sessile or subsessile;

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

open racemes, sometimes branched, axis erect;

buds pendent.

prostrate, dense racemes, axis straight;

buds erect.
Flowers

floral tube 2–5 mm;

sepals reflexed together to 1 side, green to dark red, sparsely to densely puberulent abaxially, with longer, straight, spreading hairs to 3 mm;

corolla rotate, petals lavender-pink to salmon or dark reddish purple, triangular or diamond-shaped to suborbiculate, 10–25 mm, claw slender, equal to or longer than blade, entire, rarely somewhat expanded at base;

stamens 8, unequal, outer anthers red, inner smaller, paler;

ovary with hairs as on sepals;

stigma exserted beyond anthers.

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.
Capsules

15–30 mm.

20–30 mm.
Seeds

brown, 1–1.5 mm, tuberculate, crest inconspicuous.

brown or gray, 1–1.5 mm, scaly, crest 0.2 mm.
2n

= 18.

= 52.

Clarkia unguiculata

Clarkia prostrata
Phenology Flowering Apr–Sep. Flowering May–Jul.
Habitat Woodlands. Coastal bluffs in grasslands and closed-cone pine forests.
Elevation 0–1500 m. (0–4900 ft.) 0–100 m. (0–300 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Clarkia unguiculata is a widely distributed species in California, and occurs throughout much of the southern two-thirds of the state in appropriate woodland habitats.

Clarkia unguiculata is ancestral to C. exilis, C. springvillensis, and C. tembloriensis. It is one of the parents of the tetraploid species C. delicata and may have been involved in the origin of C. heterandra.

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

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.)
Source FNA vol. 10. FNA vol. 10.
Parent taxa Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Clarkia > sect. Phaeostoma > subsect. Phaeostoma Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Clarkia > sect. Godetia
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. rubicunda, C. similis, C. speciosa, C. springvillensis, C. stellata, C. tembloriensis, 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. 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
Name authority Lindley: Edwards’s Bot. Reg. 23: sub plate 1981. (1837) H. Lewis & M. E. Lewis: Madroño 12: 36. (1953)
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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