Stems erect, to 100 cm, puberulent. Leaves: petiole 15–40 mm; blade elliptic to ovate, 2–6 cm. Inflorescences open racemes, axis recurved only at tip in bud, straight 4+ nodes distal to open flowers; buds pendent, fusi­form, base slightly swollen, tip acute. Flowers: floral-tube 2–4 mm; sepals reflexed individ­ually; corolla rotate, petals lavender-pink, often dark-flecked, obdeltate to suborbiculate, unlobed, 13–19 ×7–12 mm, length 1.6–2 times width; stamens 8, sub­equal, sub­tended by ciliate scales, pollen blue-gray; ovary shallowly 4-grooved, puberulent; stigma ex­serted beyond an­thers. Capsules 20–30 mm; pedicel 0–3 mm. Seeds light-brown or mottled with dark spots, 1.5–2.5 mm, mi­nutely tuberculate, crest 0.2 mm.

Distribution

California.

Discussion

Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora).

Clarkia borealis is closely related, and possibly ancestral, to C. mildrediae. The two species can be distinguished most readily by the degree of curvature of the inflorescence and the petal color.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

Clarkia borealis subsp. arida, Clarkia borealis subsp. borealis

Key

1	Seeds 1.5–1.8 mm.	Clarkia borealis subsp. borealis
1	Seeds 1.8–2.5 mm.	Clarkia borealis subsp. arida