''Clarkia cylindrica'' is a species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family known by the common name speckled fairyfan, or speckled clarkia. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, where it grows in the chaparral, oak woodlands, and grasslands of the southern

California Coast Ranges The Coast Ranges of California span from Del Norte or Humboldt County, California, south to Santa Barbara County. The other three coastal California mountain ranges are the Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges and the Klamath Mountains. P ...

, western

Transverse Ranges The Transverse Ranges are a group of mountain ranges of southern California, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region in North America. The Transverse Ranges begin at the southern end of the California Coast Ranges and lie within Santa ...

, and southern Sierra Nevada foothills.

Description

''Clarkia cylindrica'' is an annual herb producing an erect stem to around in maximum height. Leaves are mainly linear in shape and up to six centimeters long. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...

holds several flowers which hang heavily when they are buds and then grow erect as they open. Each open flower is a bowl of four fan-shaped petals up to about 3.5 centimeters long. The petals are intergrading shades of lavender, white, and magenta and they are often speckled with purple or pink. Beneath the petals are bright pink fused

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 coine ...

s. There are eight stamens with lavender anthers. The fruit is a cylindrical capsule up to 5 centimeters long.

External links

Jepson Manual Profile: ''Clarkia cylindrica''''Clarkia cylindrica'' — U.C. Photo gallery
cylindrica Endemic flora of California Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Natural history of the Santa Monica Mountains Natural history of the Transverse Ranges Plants described in 1907 Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Myrtales-stub