[Monkey Flowers East of the Cascade Mts.]
Purple-stem Monkey Flower

Mimulus floribundus

Purple-stem monkey flower photographed at seeps along the trail between Buckhorn Lookout and Eureka Bar in the Wallowa-Whitman N.F............................June 27, 2008.
The photo at right shows purple-stem monkey flower photographed along the west bank of the Deschutes River at its mouth............September 3, 2000.

Characteristics:

Purple-stem monkey flower is a small, erect to lax annual with simple or more commonly branched stems ranging from 5-25 cm in length. The stems and leaves are commonly densely glandular hairy (See photos at right and below.). They may also be somewhat slimy in texture. The leaves are triangular-ovate to somewhat heart-shaped with acute teeth up to 2 mm long along the margins. The leaf venation may appear somewhat palmate or pinnate. The leaf petioles are shorter than the blades. The leaf blades range from 1-3 cm long.

The calyx is mostly glandular and hairy as seen at right and ranges from 4-8 mm long. The corolla is tubular with 5 widely spread lobes and ranges from 6-14 mm long. The lobes are slightly two-lipped, with the lower trio only slightly larger than the upper pair. The corolla is yellow with several small red dots and some ventral pubescence within the throat (See photo above.).

Habitat:

Purple-stem monkey flower is found in moist open places at lower elevations. It is found along the Columbia River shores in the west Gorge and along streams, seeps, and on wet cliffs throughout the Gorge.

Range:

Purple-stem monkey flower is found from southern British Columbia south along the eastern base of the Cascade Mts. to California and east to Montana and south in the Rockies to New Mexico.

Mimulus floribundus

Purple-stem monkey flower photographed at seeps along the trail between Buckhorn Lookout and Eureka Bar in the Wallowa-Whitman N.F............................June 27, 2008. Note the numerous spreading, gland-tipped hairs covering the leaves, stems and calyx.

Mimulus floribundus ----- Mimulus floribundus ----- Flower of Mimulus floribundus ----- Basal leaf of Mimulus floribundus

The 4 photos seen directly above show close-up views of purple-stem monkey flower as photographed at seeps along the trail between Buckhorn Lookout and Eureka Bar in the Wallowa-Whitman N.F............................June 27, 2008. Click each photo to see enlarged views (2x).
Paul Slichter