Plant Name
Scientific Name: Mimulus guttatus
Synonyms: Mimulus arvensis, M. bakeri, M. brachystylis, M. clementinus, M. cordatus, M. cuspidata, M. decorus, M. equinnus, M. glabratus var. ascendens, M. glareosus, M. grandiflorus, M. grandis, M. hallii, M. hirsutus, M. langsdorffii, M. laxus, M. longulus, M. luteus var. depauperatus, M. luteus var. gracilis, M. lyratus, M. maguirei, M. marmoratus, M. micranthus, M. microphyllus, M. nasutus, M. paniculatus, M. pardalis, M. parishii Gandog., non Greene, M. petiolaris, M. prionophyllus, M. procerus, M. puberulus, M. puncticalyx, M. rivularis, M. scouleri, M. subreniformis, M. tenellus, M. thermalis, M. unimaculatus
Common Names: Seep Monkeyflower, Common Monkeyflower, Common Monkey Flower
Plant Characteristics
Duration: Annual, Perennial
Growth Habit: Herb/Forb
Arizona Native Status: Native
Habitat: Riparian. This wildflower grows in moist soil at the edges of seeps, streams, and flowing washes in the desert, upland areas, and mountains.
Flower Color: Yellow
Flowering Season: Spring, Summer, Fall (early)
Height: Up to 3 feet (91 cm) tall
Description: The flowers are tubular, up to 1 inch (2.5 cm) wide, and have 5 lobes (2 upper and 3 lower) and typically an orange-spotted lower lip. The newly opened flowers have flower stalks that are equal in length or shorter than the corolla. The flowers are followed by seed capsules with an inflated, tan, ribbed calyx. The leaves have scalloped edges and are fleshy, green, opposite, round to egg-shaped, and petiolate, sessile, or joined at the base at the stem tips. The plants are quite variable in appearance and size and are greatly affected by their growing conditions.
This is the most common Mimulus species found here. The similar Toothpetal Monkeyflower (Mimulus dentilobus) and Manyflowered Monkeyflower (Mimulus floribundus) have flower stalks that are longer than the corollas, while Roundleaf Monkeyflower (Mimulus glabratus) has often decumbent to creeping stems and smaller flowers.
Special Characteristics
Edible – The leaves are edible either raw or cooked.
Classification
Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Asteridae
Order: Scrophulariales
Family: Scrophulariaceae – Figwort family
Genus: Mimulus L. – monkeyflower
Species: Mimulus guttatus DC. – seep monkeyflower
More About This Plant