Clarkias

Our featured plant in the What’s Happening in Our Watershed project for May is clarkias. Just when the herbaceous plant cover of our foothills appears to be bidding farewell to spring and browns begin to dominate, look for late-blooming Clarkias that cheerily appear on open hillsides, which can be completely carpeted by Clarkia colors - pink, lavender, and purple. Look for four petals, sometimes with darker spots or speckles, and usually long, thin, simple leaves. The most common foothill species are deeper-colored Winecup (C. purpurea), lighter Speckled Clarkia (C. cylindrica), and intermediately colored Red Spotted Clarkia (C. speciosa).

The line drawing below was created by Mady Neufeld. You’re welcome to print out and color the image below. You can also download the file here. For additional information, including photographs and range maps, visit the California Native Plant Society or Calscape.