Popular Studies of California Wild Flower s_ , ,^ ,101 



Clarkia 

 (Evening Primrose Family) 



By Bertha M. Rice 



A piquant and graceful little flower is the Clarkia, a friendly 

 wayside flower of the spring and summer months. No other native 

 bloom can claim so strange a combination of varying shades of red, 

 pink and purple colors ; in some instances these bright hues pre- 

 dominate even in the foliage and seed vessels, consequently, as one 

 writer humorously expresses it, "suggests a blushing disposition." 



Clarkia elegans Dougl. is the most widely distributed of the 

 five or six varieties to be found in California. It sometimes forms 

 glowing masses of color in the lower foothill regions of both the 

 Sierra and Coast Range Mountains, from Mendocino County south- 

 ward. Its brilliant hues are almost sure to attract the attention of 

 the passer-by. When the foliage is red, as it frequently is, the effect 

 is almost startling. Sometimes the flowers have rather a ragged 

 appearance as they creep nearer the dusty roadsides ; but when 

 found in more favorable surroundings, they have an individual 

 beauty and a quaint sort of dignity which suits their name, C. elegans 

 (Elegant Clarkia). 



Clarkia elegans is a member of that most interesting plant 

 family which has given scientists many striking examples of mor- 

 phological differences to support their mutation theory of plants. 

 It belongs to the Evening Primrose Family, and in keeping with 

 that family's traditions may be found growing through a wide range 

 of variations in size and appearance. It grows from a few inches 

 to five or six feet tall, according to soil, moisture, exposure, etc. 

 Its flowers may be either large or small and the stems smooth or 

 hairy. These flowers are easily recognized by their slender, long- 

 clawed petals and their purple, pink and reddish hues. 



The Clarkias were named in honor of Captain Clark of the 

 famous Lewis and Clark Expedition, which made the first explora- 

 tion trip across the continent to the Pacific in 1803-06. Captain 

 Clark gathered a wonderful collection of plants on this trip, which 

 he took back with him and presented to -the American Philosophical 

 Society, of Philadelphia, of which he was a member. An attractive 

 little flower, said to have been a great favorite with this celebrated 

 explorer, was named in his honor Clarkia pulchella and is known 

 to the children of the Northwest as "Pink Fairies." The scientific 

 name pulchella is pleasingly descriptive when translated; it means 

 "Little Beauty." This particular variety, I am sorry to say, is not 

 found growing in California except under cultivation. It grows in 

 Washington and Oregon and wanders eastward almost to the Rocky 

 Mountains. Another variety, and a very charming one, is com- 

 monly called "Beautiful Clarkia" (C. concinna Greene). In appear- 

 ance, it is somewhat like the famous Clarkia pulchella, and is even 

 more gay in color. It has rose-pink petals and a reddish-pink 

 calyx. Its alluring "Airy Fairy Lillian" type of beauty shows off 



