Clarkia rostrata

Beaked clarkia

Family: Onagraceae · Type: annual · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.3

Beaked clarkia is a rare (CNPS 1B.3) California native annual found in central Sierra Nevada foothills in Mariposa County and San Joaquin Valley in oak and pine woodland at approximately 500 meters elevation. Flowering from April to May, this plant produces pink to lavender flowers with fan-shaped petals 1 to 2.5 centimeters long, shading to white near the middle and often darker-flecked with a red-purple base. Growing with erect stems less than 60 centimeters tall that are puberulent, it develops slender stems with delicate branch structures. Its leaves are lanceolate, 1 to 6 centimeters long with petioles shorter than 10 millimeters, positioned along the stem with subtle variations. The fruit develops a distinctive 7 to 15 millimeter beak, giving this clarkia its unique namesake characteristic.

Habitat: Oak/pine woodland

Bloom period: Apr-May

Elevation: +- 500 m.

Bioregions: c SNF (Mariposa Co.), SnJV (Merced River drainage, probably ephemeral populations).

California counties: Mariposa, Stanislaus, Merced

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