Flora of North America species comparison

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Clarkia unguiculata

Clarkia virgata

elegant clarkia, mountain Garland, woodland clarkia

clarkia, Sierra clarkia
Stems

erect, 30–100 cm, glabrous, glaucous.

erect, to 100 cm, puberulent.
Leaves

petiole 0–10 mm;

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

petiole 15–50 mm;

blade elliptic to ovate, 2–5 cm.
Inflorescences

open racemes, sometimes branched, axis erect;

buds pendent.

open racemes, axis recurved only at tip in bud, straight 4+ nodes distal to open flowers;

buds pendent, narrowly obovoid, tip obtuse.
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 2–4 mm;

sepals reflexed individually;

corolla rotate, petals lavender-purple, mottled or spotted with reddish purple, ± rhombic, unlobed, 7–14 × 3–7 mm, length 1.9–3 times width;

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

ovary shallowly 4-grooved;

stigma not or rarely exserted beyond anthers.
Capsules

15–30 mm.

10–20 mm;

pedicel 1–4 mm.
Seeds

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

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

= 18.

= 10.

Clarkia unguiculata

Clarkia virgata
Phenology Flowering Apr–Sep. Flowering Jun–Jul.
Habitat Woodlands. Yellow-pine forests, foothill woodlands.
Elevation 0–1500 m. (0–4900 ft.) 400–1100 m. (1300–3600 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 virgata is known primarily from El Dorado to Tuolumne counties in the north-central Sierra Nevada range, with scattered collections to Mariposa and Yuba counties.

Clarkia virgata is very similar to C. mosquinii and C. australis and is probably derived from the former through chromosome reduction in number and rearrangement and may be ancestral to the latter, which differs in chromosome arrangement. Experimental hybrids in all combinations have very low fertility. The three species are difficult to distinguish morphologically but replace one another ecogeographically with C. australis in the south and C. virgata in the middle with non-overlapping distributions. Other than geographical distribution, C. virgata is usually distinguishable from C. mosquinii by having narrower petal blades and from C. australis by having broader leaves.

(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. 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. 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. prostrata, C. pulchella, C. purpurea, C. rhomboidea, C. rostrata, C. rubicunda, C. similis, C. speciosa, C. springvillensis, C. stellata, C. tembloriensis, C. unguiculata, C. williamsonii, C. xantiana
Name authority Lindley: Edwards’s Bot. Reg. 23: sub plate 1981. (1837) Greene: Erythea 3: 123. (1895)
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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