Flora of North America species comparison

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Clarkia williamsonii

Clarkia rhomboidea

Fort miller clarkia, Fort miller clarkia or fairyfan

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

erect, to 100 cm, puberulent.

erect, to 100 cm, puberulent.
Leaves

petiole 0–10 mm;

blade linear to narrowly lanceolate, 2–7 cm.

petiole 5–25 mm;

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

open racemes, axis straight;

buds erect, mucronate.

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 7–13 mm;

sepals reflexed individually or in pairs, tips distinct in bud;

corolla bowl-shaped, petals usually lavender, white near middle with purple spot distally, rarely uniformly wine-red, 10–30 mm;

stamens 8, subequal;

ovary 8-grooved, shorter than adjacent internode;

stigma usually 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

10–30 mm.

10–25 mm;

pedicel 1–4 mm.
Seeds

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

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

= 18.

= 24.

Clarkia williamsonii

Clarkia rhomboidea
Phenology Flowering Apr–Sep. Flowering May–Sep.
Habitat Foothill woodlands, yellow-pine forests. Yellow-pine forests, woodlands.
Elevation 400–2000 m. (1300–6600 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 williamsonii occurs widely along the western slope of the Sierra Nevada from Nevada to Kern counties, and the Tehachapi Mountains barely to Los Angeles and Santa Barbara counties (one collection each). There are unverified reports from Riverside and Shasta counties.

Clarkia williamsonii is similar to C. speciosa and some populations of the hexaploid C. purpurea but can be distinguished from the former by petal color pattern and from both by having sepals that have distinctly free tips in bud, a trait most obvious in pressed specimens when the tips tend to spread apart.

(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. Godetia 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. unguiculata, C. virgata, 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 williamsonii
Name authority (Durand & Hilgard) 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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