Clarkia purpurea subsp. purpurea

Family: Onagraceae · Type: annual · Native

Clarkia purpurea is a California native annual found in the Central Valley and Central Coast bioregions in grassland habitats at elevations below 100 meters. Flowering from April to June, this plant produces lavender to purple or purple-red flowers 10 to 25 millimeters long, often with a lighter proximal color and a darker spot near the tip. Growing with delicate stems, it forms dense inflorescences that showcase its distinctive flower coloration. Its leaves are broadly lanceolate to elliptic, measuring 1.5 to 4.5 centimeters long and appearing glabrous to sparsely puberulent. The flower's stigma extends noticeably beyond the anthers, creating an elegant and distinctive botanical profile.

Habitat: Uncommon. Grassland

Bloom period: Apr-Jun

Elevation: < 100 m

Bioregions: GV, CCo

California counties: Placer, Monterey, Marin, Solano, Lake, Butte, Yolo, Santa Clara, San Francisco, El Dorado, Merced, Sacramento, Madera, Stanislaus, San Joaquin, Santa Barbara, Contra Costa, Mendocino, Humboldt, Sutter, San Mateo, Napa, Kern, Orange, Tuolumne, San Bernardino, Calaveras, Fresno, Lassen, Mariposa, Riverside, Siskiyou, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Shasta, Nevada, Colusa, Santa Cruz

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