This variety of Clarkia amoena is found in North America only in British Columbia, Washington and Oregon (USDA 2011). In British Columbia, it is found in the southwestern corner of the province in dry grassy areas in the lowland zone. Clarkia amoena is an annual, taprooted species with two varieties present in the province: var. amoena and var. lindleyi. In his rare plants of the Fraser Valley article, Lomer (2011) says: "There is a small population of this attractive annual [plant] growing on south-facing rocky knolls on Sumas Mountain (UBC: Lomer 4433). It is more common on the Gulf Islands and southern Vancouver Island, but it could be expected from other south-facing rocky bluffs in the Fraser Valley. It is not known elsewhere on the BC mainland." Extracted from Botanical Electronic News #432, January 2011, with permission.

General:
Annual herb from a stout or slender taproot; stems spreading to erect, 10-100 cm tall, simple to freely branched, minutely hairy.

Leaves:
Alternate, linear to narrowly lanceolate, 2-7 cm long, mostly 2-6 mm wide; unstalked or stalks less than 3 mm long.

Flowers:
Inflorescence dense, axis straight when in bud, buds usually erect; hypanthium 2-10 mm long; corollas bowl-shaped, tending to close at night; petals pink to rose-purple, red-spotted or -marked near centre, egg- to fan-shaped, not clawed, 1-4 cm long; sepals usually joined and turned to one side, sometimes partially free; stamens 8, anthers glabrous or slightly hairy, all alike; stigmas 1-6 mm long, linear to oval, yellow; styles usually exceeding stamens.

Fruits:
Capsules, linear to somewhat club-shaped, (1) 1.5-4.5 cm long, straight to curved, beakless or with a beak several mm long, 4-grooved when young, later cylindric and 8-ribbed.

Notes:
Two sympatric varieties occur in BC:

1. Stigmatic lobes oval, usually not over 2 mm long; petals usually less than 2 cm long................ var. caurina (Abrams) C.L. Hitchc.

1. Stigmatic lobes linear, usually over 2 mm long; petals usually greater than 2 cm long............... var. lindleyi (Dougl.) C.L. Hitchc.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Clarkia amoena (Lehm.) A. Nelson & J.F. Macbr.