Clarkia epilobioides
Encyclopedia
Clarkia epilobioides is a species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family
Onagraceae
Onagraceae, also known as the Willowherb family or Evening Primrose family, are a family of flowering plants. The family includes about 640-650 species of herbs, shrubs, and trees in 20-24 genera...

 known by the common name canyon clarkia. It is native to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

, and Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...

, where it grows in shaded habitat in woodland and chaparral
Chaparral
Chaparral is a shrubland or heathland plant community found primarily in the U.S. state of California and in the northern portion of the Baja California peninsula, Mexico...

. It is an annual herb producing a slender, erect stem sometimes exceeding half a meter in height. The leaves are narrowly to widely lance-shaped and less than 3 centimeters long. The top of the stem is occupied by the inflorescence
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. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...

. Each hanging bud has four red sepal
Sepal
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...

s which remain fused all together or in pairs as the petals emerge during blooming. The petals are one half to one centimeter long, oval in shape, solid white or cream in color, often fading pink as they age. There are eight protruding stamen
Stamen
The stamen is the pollen producing reproductive organ of a flower...

s and one stigma
Gynoecium
Gynoecium is most commonly used as a collective term for all carpels in a flower. A carpel is the ovule and seed producing reproductive organ in flowering plants. Carpels are derived from ovule-bearing leaves which evolved to form a closed structure containing the ovules...

.

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