''Clarkia xantiana'' is a species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family known by the common name gunsight 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 elsew ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, where it is known from the southern

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

and its foothills and the adjacent

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 B ...

. This is an erect annual herb with linear to lance-shaped leaves each up to 6 centimeters long. 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 o ...

produces opening flowers and closed buds. 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 b ...

s stay fused as the petals bloom from one side. Each petal is up to 2 centimeters long and generally light to medium purple in color, sometimes with a dark, ringed spot on the petals of the upper whorl. The petal has a narrow claw and a wider blade which has two lobes at the tip with a small tooth between.

External links

Jepson Manual ProfilePhoto gallery
xantiana Flora of California Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Myrtales-stub