Text by Dirk Walters; art by Mardi Niles.<\/p>\n
I chose the Pismo clarkia because it grows in the area surrounding Mardi\u2019s home and nowhere else. It grows naturally in about 20 occurrences from the southern Edna Valley, south through the foothills and valleys of the Southern San Luis Range, ending east of Pismo Beach and Arroyo Grande (Huasna Valley). I\u2019m also guessing that few of us have actually seen it. This is because of its very limited range, and that most of its suitable habitat is on private property with limited access. It grows best, like the equally limited SLO County \ufb02ower (Lupinus ludovicianus<\/em>), on the essentially sterile sand derived in-situ from the weathered white sandstone found in this area. Another limiting factor is its preference for sites where other plants are sparse. I don\u2019t think it is ever found in large patches, only small patches with a few individual plants.<\/p>\n The Pismo clarkia subspecies (or variety) is a federally, State and CNPS listed endangered plant. Why is there confusion between sub-species or variety? This is due to the inconsistency in taxonomic treatment of its species, Clarkia speciosa<\/em>. Some sources recognize it as a variety and others treat it as a subspecies. I\u2019m siding with the subspecies rank as it has a distinct range separate from the rest of its species, as well as it being recognized as such in THE JEPSON MANUAL, and Hoover\u2019s THE VASCULAR PLANTS OF SLO COUNTY CALIFORNIA. I was taught long ago that subspecies have distinct geographic boundaries that are separated from other sub-categories in its species. Pismo clarkia is the only subspecies that grows west of the Santa Lucia Mountains.<\/p>\n The only common name I came up with for its species (Clarkia speciosa<\/em>) is \u201cred spot clarkia\u201d. I assume it gets this common name because all the other more common & widespread subspecies have a very large prominent reddish-brown basal spot on each of the otherwise uniform red to pink colored petals. In contrast, Pismo clarkia<\/em> has NO spots, prominent or otherwise. Also Pismo clarkia<\/em> has two \u2018pure\u2019, unblemished colors. The reddish colors are restricted to the upper (distal) three-fourths of the petal. The basal quarter is white. I\u2019ve always assumed the subspecies name (ssp immaculata<\/em>) is derived from its perceived pure or unspotted colors as well as the \u2018pure\u2019 (immaculate) white petal base.<\/p>\n A search of the web indicated that although the Pismo clarkia<\/em> is federally listed as endangered, it doesn\u2019t have an existing management or restoration plan. I assume that this is due to its small scattered populations generally restricted to mostly individually owned private lands. The only exception is that restrictions have been placed on petroleum extraction activities in Price Canyon.<\/p>\n Pismo clarkia is in the Evening primrose or Fuchsia family (Onagraceae<\/em>), which in our area could better be designated as the Clarkia family. The Clarkia family is one of our more easily recognized families. Unlike most other families it\u2019s characterized by having 4 sepals, 4 petals and 8 stamens. The sepals, petals and stamens are often attached to the far end of a long tube (hypantheum) which arises from the top of the 4 chambered ovary. This places the ovary below the attachment of the other \ufb02ower parts, making the ovary \u2018inferior\u2019. The other family with 4 sepals and 4 petals is the mustard family (Brassicaceae<\/em> or Cruciferae<\/em>). However this family usually has 6 stamens and which (along with the sepals and petals) are attached below the 2 chambered \u2018superior\u2019 ovary. In our area the Clarkia family is essentially all annual or perennial herbs. Pismo clarkia is an annual. Although some genera have large showy \ufb02owers, Pismo clarkia\u2019s \ufb02owers are of moderate size. Also Pismo clarkia tends to have weak stems so it tends to sort of spread out laterally instead of growing upright. This also tends to make it less conspicuous. Los Pilitas Nursery\u2019s account of the species notes that it doesn\u2019t compete well with weeds or for that matter other garden \ufb02owers, so it is dif\ufb01cult to keep weeds at bay without harming the clarkias. A number of web sites discussed the plant\u2019s seeds but few have them available for sale. Several web sites encourage its use in the garden as a bee plant. A lot of species in the genus, Clarkia, bloom late in spring or early summer. Thus many species of clarkia carry the common names of \u201cfarewell-to-spring\u201d or \u201charbinger-of-summer\u201d. Pismo clarkia also blooms from May into June.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I chose the Pismo clarkia because it grows in the area surrounding Mardi\u2019s home and nowhere else. It grows naturally in about 20 occurrences from the southern Edna Valley, south through the foothills and valleys of the Southern San Luis Range, ending east of Pismo Beach and Arroyo Grande (Huasna Valley).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7807,"featured_media":6318,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,406],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n