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SCROPHULARIACEAE

FIGWORT FAMILY

Lawrence R. Heckard, Family Coordinator

Annual to shrubs, generally glandular, some green root-parasites
Stem generally round
Leaves generally alternate, simple, generally ± entire; stipules generally 0
Inflorescence: spike to panicle, generally bracted, or flowers 1–2 in axils
Flower bisexual; calyx lobes generally 5; corolla generally strongly bilateral, generally 2-lipped (upper lip generally 2-lobed, lower lip generally 3-lobed); stamens generally 4 in 2 pairs, generally included, a 5th (generally uppermost) sometimes present as a staminode; pistil 1, ovary superior, chambers generally 2, placentas axile, style 1, stigma lobes generally 2
Fruit: capsule, generally ± ovoid, loculicidal or septicidal
Seed: coat sculpture often characteristic
Genera in family: ± 200 genera, 3000 species: ± worldwide; some cultivated as ornamental (e.g., Antirrhinum, Mimulus, Penstemon ) or medicinal (Digitalis )
Recent taxonomic note: Recently treated to include only Buddleja, Scrophularia, and Verbascum in CA; other genera moved to Orobanchaceae (Castilleja, Cordylanthus, Orthocarpus, Pedicularis, Triphysaria), Phrymaceae (Mimulus), and Plantaginaceae (= Veronicaceae sensu Olmstead et al.)
Key to genera by Elizabeth Chase Neese & Margriet Wetherwax.

MIMULUS

MONKEYFLOWER

David M. Thompson

Annual to shrub, glabrous to hairy
Stem generally erect
Leaves opposite, generally ± sessile, generally toothed or generally entire, reddish or generally green
Inflorescence: raceme, bracted, or flowers generally 2 per axil
Flower sometimes cleistogamous; calyx generally green, lobes 5, generally << tube, equal or not, generally uppermost largest; corolla generally deciduous, white to red, maroon, purple, gold or yellow, limb width measured at widest point looking into flower, lower lip base sometimes swollen, ± closing mouth, tube-throat floor generally with 2 longitudinal folds; pollen chambers spreading; placentas 2, axile or parietal; stigma lobes generally leaf-like, generally included
Fruit generally ovoid to fusiform, generally upcurved if elongate, generally ± fragile, loculicidal near tip (sometimes hard, indehiscent); chambers 1–2
Seeds many, generally < 1 mm, ovoid, yellowish to dark brown
Species in genus: ± 100 species: w North America, Chile, eastern Asia, s Africa, New Zealand, Australia
Etymology: (Latin: little mime or comic actor, from face-like corolla limb of some)
Reference: [Grant 1924 Ann Missouri Bot Gard 11:99–388]

Native

M. montioides A. Gray

Annual, 1–18 cm, puberulent
Leaf 4–32 mm, linear (rarely > 3 mm wide)
Flower: pedicel 3–25 mm; calyx 3.5–8.5 mm, minutely puberulent, membranous in fruit, lobes equal, 0.5–2 mm, obtuse to rounded, with small point at tip, ± glabrous to ciliate; corolla yellow, purple, or yellow with purple upper lip, tube-throat 10–16 mm, lobes often each 2-lobed; placentas axile
Fruit 3–6 mm
Ecology: Disturbed areas along streamlets, generally in granitic soils
Elevation: > 1800 m.
Bioregional distribution: c&s Sierra Nevada (s of Madera Co.)
Distribution outside California: near Carson City, Nevada
Synonyms: M. barbatus Greene; M. discolor A.L. Grant
Complex; corolla colors mixed in some areas, uniform in others; plants with purple corollas at lower elevation much like M. palmeri
Horticultural information: TRY.

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