It is endemic to central Tulare County, California, where it is known from fewer than 20 occurrences around Springville.

[2] Threats to the species include non-native plant species, road maintenance, grazing and trampling by livestock, and development; the population growing on the type locality near Springville was extirpated when the land was made into a mobile home park.

[3] Clarkia springvillensis is an annual herb growing erect to approach a maximum height near 1 metre (3.3 ft).

The deep red sepals remain fused together as the petals bloom from one side.

Clarkia springvillensis was first described by Frank Charles Vasek in a 1964 issue of Madroño, the journal of the California Botanical Society.