Stats

Lifespan

Annual

Size

Medium

Diet

Photosynthetic

Biome

Temperate woodland

Range

North America

Movement

Sessile

Breeding

Seeds

Defense

Camouflage

Status

Uncommon

About

A California native annual wildflower with vivid pink-to-lavender blooms whose four fan-shaped petals are each pinched at a narrow claw-like base — the trait that gives the species its name, *unguiculata* meaning 'little clawed.' It thrives in oak woodland understories across the Coast Ranges and Sierra Nevada foothills, often carpeting hillsides in late spring.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   seed

   A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2. 2.
   sprout

   A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3. 3.
   sapling

   A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4. 4.
   mature

   Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

Learn more

• View on iNaturalist →

Taxonomy

Kingdom

Plantae

Phylum

Tracheophyta

Class

Magnoliopsida

Order

Myrtales

Family

Onagraceae

Genus

Clarkia

Species

Clarkia unguiculata