Dwarf Monkeyflower, Dwarf Purple Monkeyflower, Dwarf Purple Monkey Flower: Diplacus nanus (Synonyms: Mimulus nanus, Mimulus nanus ssp. nanus, Mimulus nanus var. nanus)

Dwarf purple monkey flower is an attractive annual with low growth habits, rarely exceeding 10 cm in height. Its branching ranges from simple to well branched and its herbage is somewhat finely glandular. The leaves are inconspicuously 3-5 veined with entire margins. The blades of the lower leaves are oblanceolate while the upper are elliptic or elliptic-oblong or narrowly ovate and they may be up to 3.5 cm long and 1 cm wide.

The showy flowers are crowded on the upper stems with the corollas tubular and with the lobes two-lipped (2 above and 3 below) and about equal in size. The corolla ranges from 1-2.5 cm long and is a rich magenta in color with yellow and deeper red marks in the throat. The withered corolla may persist for some time after flowering. The calyx is 5-8 mm long with 5 lobes that are equally cleft.

Dwarf purple monkey flower lives in dry open areas, often in sand, gravel or talus, from the plains up into the foothills.

Dwarf purple monkey flower may be found from central Washington south to the east of the Cascades to northern California and east to southwestern Montana, northwestern Wyoming, and northeastern Nevada.

This photo shows a close-up sideview of the calyx and corolla of dwarf purple monkey flower as seen along forest road #4030 on the eastern slopes of Mt. Misery in the Umatilla N.F. of southeastern Oregon.......July 7, 2008. Note the cluster of basal leaves and the numerous gland-tipped hairs on the leaves, stems and calyx. Also note the numerous hairs on the lower 3 corolla lobes.

Dwarf purple monkeyflower beginning to bloom on scabland soils along Forest Road 30 near the old Cold Springs Guard Station, southeast corner of Big Summit Prairie, Ochoco National Forest.......June 3, 2018.

Dwarf purple monkey flower as seen at Fort Rock State Park, Lake County, OR........May 18, 2016.

Close-ups of dwarf purple monkeyflower as seen along Oregon Highway 19 near the Shelton State Wayside........June 30, 2010. The spring and early summer of 2010 were exceptionally cool and wet east of the Cascade Mts and thus annuals such as this species flourished, with many samples of this species having multibranched stems and numerous blossoms (compared with the single-flowered specimens seen below which tend to be more the norm during drier years.

Additional photos of dwarf purple monkeyflower as seen atop Baldy Mountain, Strawberry Wilderness.......July 2, 2010.

The photo at left shows dwarf purple monkeyflower blooming on steep, gravelly slopes along the trail from the Steens Mountain summit down to Wildhorse Lake, Harney County, Oregon..........July 10, 2014. The photo at right shows dwarf purple monkeyflower along FS Road #2230 between Mount Pisgah and East Point, Ochoco National Forest........June 13, 2015.

What appears to be dwarf purple monkeyflower blooming along FS Road 28 in private timberlands between Roads 30 and 3219, surrounded by the Fremont-Winema National Forest........June 19, 2020.

Dwarf purple monkeyflower blooming on vernally moist soils along Forest Service Road #2230 between Mount Pisgah and East Point, Ochoco National Forest..........June 13, 2015.

Dwarf purple monkeyflower in bloom at left atop Spanish Peak, Ochoco National Forest......June 17, 2019. The photo at right shows dwarf purple monkeyflower blooming on the trail just southwest of Bullrun Rock, Monument Rock Wilderness.....July 9, 2023.

Dwarf purple monkeyflower in bloom near the summit of Drakes Peak, Fremont-Winema National Forest......June 29, 2019.

Dwarf purple monkey flower from near La Pine, OR. Note the yellow and darker red markings in the throat of the corolla.

Paul Slichter