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clarkia, Sierra clarkia

purple clarkia, winecup clarkia, winecup fairyfan

Stems

erect, to 100 cm, puberulent.

erect or rarely decumbent, to 100 cm, glabrous and sometimes glaucous or sparsely to densely puberulent, sometimes mixed with longer, spreading hairs.

Leaves

petiole 15–50 mm;

blade elliptic to ovate, 2–5 cm.

petiole 0–2 mm;

blade linear or narrowly lanceolate to elliptic or ovate, 1.5–7 cm.

Inflorescences

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

buds pendent, narrowly obovoid, tip obtuse.

open or dense racemes, axis straight;

buds erect.

Flowers

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.

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.

Capsules

10–20 mm;

pedicel 1–4 mm.

10–30 mm, beak 0–2 mm.

Seeds

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

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

2n

= 10.

Clarkia virgata

Clarkia purpurea

Phenology Flowering Jun–Jul.
Habitat Yellow-pine forests, foothill woodlands.
Elevation 400–1100 m. (1300–3600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[BONAP county map]
from USDA
w North America; nw Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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.)

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.)

Key
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
Source FNA vol. 10. FNA vol. 10.
Parent taxa Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Clarkia > sect. Myxocarpa 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. unguiculata, 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. rhomboidea, C. rostrata, C. rubicunda, C. similis, C. speciosa, C. springvillensis, C. stellata, C. tembloriensis, C. unguiculata, C. virgata, C. williamsonii, C. xantiana
Subordinate taxa
C. purpurea subsp. purpurea, C. purpurea subsp. quadrivulnera, C. purpurea subsp. viminea
Synonyms Oenothera purpurea, Godetia purpurea
Name authority Greene: Erythea 3: 123. (1895) (Curtis) A. Nelson & J. F. Macbride: Bot. Gaz. 65: 64. (1918)
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