Clarkia exilis

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Kern River clarkia
Clarkia-exilis4.jpg
Clarkia exilis
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Onagraceae
Genus: Clarkia
Species:
C. exilis
Binomial name
Clarkia exilis

Clarkia exilis is a small herbaceous annual plant of western North America. It is an uncommon species in the evening primrose family known by the common names Kern River clarkia and slender clarkia.

Contents

Description

Flowers with open anthers and receptive stigmas Clarkia-exilis3.jpg
Flowers with open anthers and receptive stigmas

Clarkia exilis is an annual herb producing a slender, erect stem often exceeding half a meter in height. The bright green leaves are lance-shaped to narrowly oval, hairless, up to 6 centimeters long, and sometimes lacking petioles. The top of the stem is occupied by the inflorescence, with open flowers and deflexed buds towards the tip of the stem. The sepals and ovary may be lightly hairy (but typically distinctly less so than its sister-species Clarkia unguiculata ). The sepals will remain fused together along one side as the petals bloom. Each of the four petals has a narrow claw and diamond-shaped limb. The entire petal is up to 1.5 centimeters long and white or soft purple or pink, sometimes with a purple spot. There are eight stamens, four of which have large reddish anthers and four with smaller, paler anthers. At maturity the style is equal to the stamens. The fruit is a capsule up to 3 centimeters long and about 2 millimeters wide that may contain from a few to 80 seeds.

Distribution

Clarkia exilis is endemic to California, where it is known only from the woodlands of the southernmost Sierra Nevada foothills immediately northeast of Bakersfield and the adjacent Tehachapi Mountains. Populations are largely proximal to the Kern River and its nearby drainages, with some few populations found to the immediate west in the foothills of the Sierra as they descend to the Great Central Valley.


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<i>Clarkia unguiculata</i> Species of flowering plant in the willowherb family Onagraceae

Clarkia unguiculata is a species of wildflower known by the common name elegant clarkia or mountain garland. This plant is endemic to California, where it is found in many woodland habitats. Specifically it is common on the forest floor of many oak woodlands, along with typical understory wildflowers that include Calochortus luteus, Cynoglossum grande and Delphinium variegatum. C. unguiculata presents a spindly, hairless, waxy stem not exceeding a meter in height and bears occasional narrow leaves. The showy flowers have hairy, fused sepals forming a cup beneath the corolla, and four petals each one to 2.5 centimeters long. The paddle-like petals are a shade of pink to reddish to purple and are slender and diamond-shaped or triangular. There are eight long stamens, the outer four of which have large red anthers. The stigma protrudes from the flower and can be quite large. Flowers of the genus Clarkia are primarily pollinated by specialist bees found in their native habitat "Clarkias independently developed self-pollination in 12 lineages."

<i>Clarkia cylindrica</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Clarkia arcuata</i> Species of flowering plant

Clarkia arcuata is a species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family known by the common name glandular clarkia. It is endemic to California, where it grows in the chaparral and woodlands of the foothills of the Sierra Nevada and southern Cascade Range. It is an annual herb producing a slender, erect stem often exceeding half a meter in height. The leaves are narrow, usually linear or lance-shaped, and up to 6 centimeters long. The inflorescence bears a few flowers, which dangle when they are buds and grow erect as they open. The sepals stay fused as the petals open and emerge from one side. They are coated in glandular hairs. The petals are up to 3 centimeters long, pink-lavender in color, sometimes with a reddish blotch at the base. They form a bowl-shaped corolla. There are 8 stamens and a protruding, four-chambered ovary. The fruit is an elongated capsule which may reach 3.5 centimeters long.

Clarkia australis is a species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family known by the common name Small's southern clarkia. It is endemic to California, where it grows in the forests of the central Sierra Nevada. It is an uncommon species threatened by such forest activities as logging. This annual herb produces a slender, erect stem approaching a meter in height. The leaves are widely linear in shape and borne on short petioles. The top of the stem is occupied by the tall inflorescence, which bears hanging buds that open from the lowest upward so that there are several closed buds above open flowers. The sepals do not remain fused as the flower opens. The petals are diamond-shaped and sometimes lobed and curling at the tip. They are mottled or spotted lavender, purple, and reddish in color, and each is up to 1.5 centimeters long. There are 8 long stamens tipped with large anthers bearing blue-gray pollen. The stigma protrudes past the anthers.

<i>Clarkia biloba</i> Species of flowering plant

Clarkia biloba is a species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family known by the common name twolobe clarkia and two lobed clarkia.

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<i>Clarkia delicata</i> Species of flowering plant

Clarkia delicata is a rare species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family known by the common names Campo clarkia and delicate clarkia. It is native to northern Baja California and adjacent San Diego County, California, where it grows in the woodland and chaparral of the Peninsular Ranges. This is an annual herb producing an erect stem just over half a meter in maximum height. The leaves are oval or widely lance-shaped, up to 4 centimeters long, and borne on very short petioles. The top of the stem is occupied by the inflorescence, in which the lower flowers open while the upper buds hang closed. The sepals remain fused as the flower blooms from one side. Each unlobed oval petal is about a centimeter long and pink to pinkish-lavender. There are 8 stamens, some with large orange anthers and some with smaller, paler anthers. There is also a protruding stigma with four large, fuzzy lobes.

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Clarkia dudleyana is a species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family known by the common name Dudley's clarkia. It is endemic to California, where it can be found in the mountains of the Transverse Ranges and the southern Sierra Nevada foothills. It grows in woodland, forest, and chaparral habitats under 1500 meters in elevation. This annual herb produces an erect stem sometimes exceeding half a meter in height. The leaves are lance-shaped, up to 7 centimeters long, and borne on short petioles. The top of the stem is occupied by the inflorescence, which has opening flowers below closed, hanging buds. As the flower blooms the pink to reddish-purple sepals remain fused, opening along one side only. The petals are up to 3 centimeters long, fan-shaped, pinkish lavender in color and sometimes flecked with red. There are 8 stamens, some of which have large lavender anthers and some that have smaller, paler anthers. The stigma protrudes farther than the stamens.

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