Speckled Clarkia

Speckled clarkia is endemic to California, where it grows in the chaparral, woodlands and grassland of the coastal mountain ranges and Sierra Nevada foothills. This is an annual herb producing an erect stem to around half a meter in maximum height. Leaves are mainly linear in shape and up to six centimeters long. The inflorescence 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 sepals. There are eight stamens with lavender anthers. The fruit is a cylindrical capsule up to 5 centimeters long.