Stems erect, to 100 cm, puber­ulent. Leaves: petiole 15–40 mm; blade elliptic to ovate, 3–6 cm. Inflorescences open racemes, axis recurved in bud, straight only 1–3 nodes distal to open flowers; buds pendent, tip acute. Flowers: floral tube 2–3 mm; sepals usually reflexed individ­ually; corolla rotate, petals reddish purple, often darker flecked or spotted, narrowly obdeltate to suborbic­ulate, unlobed, 11–25 × 7–18 mm, length 1.4–1.6 times width; stamens 8, subequal, subtended by ciliate scales, anthers magenta or orange-red to yellow, pollen blue-gray or bright yellow to tan; ovary shallowly 4-grooved, puberulent; stigma exserted beyond anthers. Capsules 20–30 mm; pedicel 0–5 mm. Seeds brown or gray, 1.5–1.8 mm, scaly-echinate, crest 0.1 mm.

Distribution

California.

Discussion

Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora).

Clarkia mildrediae is closely related to, and may be derived from, C. borealis. Clarkia mildrediae subsp. lutescens is probably the direct ancestor of C. stellata. Clarkia mildrediae differs from C. borealis in petal color and inflorescence habit and from C. stellata in flower size and position of the stigma. On the basis of morph­ology, chromosome number and pairing, C. mildrediae appears to be one of the parents of the tetraploid species C. rhomboidea.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

Clarkia mildrediae subsp. lutescens, Clarkia mildrediae subsp. mildrediae

Key

1	Petals 12–18 mm wide; anthers magenta, fresh pollen blue-gray.	Clarkia mildrediae subsp. mildrediae
1	Petals 7–16 mm wide; anthers yellow to orange-red, fresh pollen bright yellow to tan.	Clarkia mildrediae subsp. lutescens