Clarkia imbricata

Vine hill clarkia

Family: Onagraceae · Type: annual · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.1 · Endangered

Vine hill clarkia is a rare (CNPS 1B.1) California native annual found in the northern Coast Ranges of Sonoma County in clearings and roadsides at elevations around 50 meters. Flowering from June to July, this plant produces lavender petals shading paler near the middle with a distinctive large wedge-shaped purple-red spot at the petal tips. Growing to less than 60 centimeters tall with erect, glabrous or sparsely hairy stems, it has an upright habit with dense, straight-axis flower buds. Its leaves are lanceolate, 2 to 2.5 centimeters long with very short petioles or nearly no petiole at all. The flower's hypanthium is conspicuously veined and 10 to 15 millimeters long, with a bowl-shaped corolla featuring eight symmetrical stamens.

Habitat: Clearings, roadsides, perhaps chaparral

Bloom period: Jun-Jul

Elevation: +- 50 m.

Bioregions: NCoRO (Sonoma Co.).

California counties: Sonoma

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.