''Clarkia delicata'' is a rare species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family known by the common names Campo clarkia and delicate clarkia. It is native to northern

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

and adjacent

San Diego County, California San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the f ...

, where it grows in the woodland and

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterrane ...

of the

Peninsular Ranges The Peninsular Ranges (also called the Lower California province) are a group of mountain ranges that stretch from Southern California to the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula; they are part of the North American Coast Ranges, whic ...

. This is an annual herb producing an erect stem just over half a meter in maximum height. The leaves are oval or widely lance-shaped, up to 4 centimeters long, and borne on very short petioles. The top of the stem is occupied by the

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed ...

, in which the lower flowers open while the upper buds hang closed. The

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined ...

s remain fused as the flower blooms from one side. Each unlobed oval petal is about a centimeter long and pink to pinkish-lavender. There are 8

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...

s, some with large orange anthers and some with smaller, paler anthers. There is also a protruding stigma with four large, fuzzy lobes.

References

External links

Jepson Manual ProfileThe Nature ConservancyPhoto gallery
delicata Flora of California Flora of Baja California Plants described in 1905 {{Myrtales-stub