Clarkia virgata

Sierra clarkia

Family: Onagraceae · Type: annual · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.3

Sierra clarkia is a California native annual found in northern and central Sierra Nevada Mountains from El Dorado to Tuolumne counties in yellow-pine forest and foothill woodland at elevations of 400 to 1,100 meters. Flowering from June to July, this plant produces lavender-purple flowers with red-purple mottling or spotting, 8 to 15 millimeters long with diamond-shaped petals and distinctive blue-gray pollen. Growing with erect stems less than one meter tall and covered in fine soft hairs, it has an upright, delicate structure. Its leaves are elliptic to ovate, with petioles 1.5 to 5 centimeters long and blades 2 to 5 centimeters in length. The flower's unique features include eight stamens with ciliate scales and a stigma that extends beyond the anthers.

Habitat: Yellow-pine forest, foothill woodland

Bloom period: Jun-Jul

Elevation: 400-1100 m

Bioregions: n&ampc SN (El Dorado to Tuolumne cos.).

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