CLARKIA.
Clarkia elegans, Dougl. Evening-Primrose Family.
Stems.—One to six feet high; simple or branching. Leaves.—Alternate; broadly ovate to linear; dentate; an inch or more long. Petals.—About nine lines long; with long, slender claws and rhomboidal blades; pink. Stamens.—Eight; all perfect. Filaments with a hairy scale at base. Stigma.—Four-lobed. Capsule.—Six to nine lines long; sessile. (Otherwise as C. concinna.) Hab.—Widely distributed.
This plant is a very common one along our dusty roadsides in early summer, and it shows a facility in adapting itself to quite a range of climate and condition. It grows from six inches to six feet high, is nearly smooth or quite hairy, and has rather large flowers or quite small ones. Its scarlet stamens, purple-pink petals, and often deeper purple sepals make an odd combination of color. It often grows in showy masses, making patches of glowing color under the shade of trees.
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