Purple-stem monkeyflower photographed at right along
the west bank of the Deschutes River at its mouth.........September 3, 2000.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.).
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.
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.
In the Columbia River Gorge, it may be found at river level and up to 600' in elevation from east of Troutdale, OR east to the Deschutes River.
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