Burke: Erythranthe tilingii vs. Erythranthe alsinoides

	Erythranthe tilingii	Erythranthe alsinoides
		chickweed monkey-flower, wing-stem monkey-flower
Habit	Mat-forming perennial from well-developed, creeping rhizomes, often with stolons as well, the stems 0.5-2 dm. tall, mostly glabrous.	Annual, glandular-hairy to somewhat glabrous (smooth), growing to 0.5-3 dm. in height. The plants are slender, and have either a simple or freely-branching form. Often found growing in uniformly dense patches. The stems frequently appear somewhat reddish.
Leaves	Leaves opposite, mostly sessile, the blade under 2.5 cm. long, elliptic to ovate, slightly reduced upward, with a few irregular teeth, sub-palmately veined.	Opposite, slightly to evidently-toothed, 3-5 prominent veins on the upper surface. The blades are 0.5-2.5 cm. long, with a petiole of more or less equal length.
Flowers	Flowers few, solitary in the leaf axils, on long pedicels; calyx 5-toothed, irregular, the upper tooth much the largest, the 2 lower ones tending to fold upward; corolla large for the size of the plant, 2-4 cm. long, strongly bilabiate, with flaring throat, yellow with maroon dots or splotches on the pubescent lower lip; stamens 4.	The yellow corollas fuse to form an upper and lower lip (bilabiate), and grow 8-14 mm. long. A conspicuous reddish-brown blotch is found on the lower and sometimes the upper lip. Individual flowers are attached to the stem by a long pedicel.
Fruit	Capsule.	Capsule.

	Erythranthe tilingii	Erythranthe alsinoides
Identification notes		The reddish-brown blotch on the lower lip is very diagnostic along with its annual life cycle and tendency to be found in moss mats. The middle lobe of the lower lip tends to be the longest and somewhat curved backwards (deflexed). The lower two teeth of the calyx tend to be more rounded and longer than the upper three calyx teeth.
Flowering time	July-September	April-June
Habitat	Wet meadows and wet, rocky slopes at high elevations in the mountains.	Shady, vernally (springtime) moist places on cliffs and ledges, especially at low elevations; often growing in moss mats.
Distribution	In the Cascade and Olympic Mountains of Washington; Alaska south to California, east to Montana, Colorado and New Mexico. [WildflowerSearch map]	Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California. [WildflowerSearch map]
Origin		Native
Conservation status	Not of concern	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	E. alsinoides, E. ampliata, E. arvensis, E. breviflora, E. breweri, E. caespitosa, E. cardinalis, E. decora, E. dentata, E. floribunda, E. grandis, E. guttata, E. inflatula, E. jungermannioides, E. lewisii, E. microphylla, E. moschata, E. nasuta, E. patula, E. primuloides, E. ptilota, E. pulsiferae, E. scouleri, E. suksdorfii, E. washingtonensis	E. ampliata, E. arvensis, E. breviflora, E. breweri, E. caespitosa, E. cardinalis, E. decora, E. dentata, E. floribunda, E. grandis, E. guttata, E. inflatula, E. jungermannioides, E. lewisii, E. microphylla, E. moschata, E. nasuta, E. patula, E. primuloides, E. ptilota, E. pulsiferae, E. scouleri, E. suksdorfii, E. washingtonensis
Web links	Local floras: BC, CA, OR Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Erythranthe alsinoides

chickweed monkey-flower, wing-stem monkey-flower

Habit

Mat-forming perennial from well-developed, creeping rhizomes, often with stolons as well, the stems 0.5-2 dm. tall, mostly glabrous.

Annual, glandular-hairy to somewhat glabrous (smooth), growing to 0.5-3 dm. in height. The plants are slender, and have either a simple or freely-branching form. Often found growing in uniformly dense patches. The stems frequently appear somewhat reddish.

Leaves

Leaves opposite, mostly sessile, the blade under 2.5 cm. long, elliptic to ovate, slightly reduced upward, with a few irregular teeth, sub-palmately veined.

Opposite, slightly to evidently-toothed, 3-5 prominent veins on the upper surface. The blades are 0.5-2.5 cm. long, with a petiole of more or less equal length.

Flowers

Flowers few, solitary in the leaf axils, on long pedicels;

calyx 5-toothed, irregular, the upper tooth much the largest, the 2 lower ones tending to fold upward;

corolla large for the size of the plant, 2-4 cm. long, strongly bilabiate, with flaring throat, yellow with maroon dots or splotches on the pubescent lower lip;

stamens 4.

The yellow corollas fuse to form an upper and lower lip (bilabiate), and grow 8-14 mm. long. A conspicuous reddish-brown blotch is found on the lower and sometimes the upper lip. Individual flowers are attached to the stem by a long pedicel.

Fruit

Capsule.

Erythranthe tilingii

Erythranthe alsinoides

Identification notes

The reddish-brown blotch on the lower lip is very diagnostic along with its annual life cycle and tendency to be found in moss mats. The middle lobe of the lower lip tends to be the longest and somewhat curved backwards (deflexed). The lower two teeth of the calyx tend to be more rounded and longer than the upper three calyx teeth.

Flowering time

July-September

April-June

Habitat

Wet meadows and wet, rocky slopes at high elevations in the mountains.

Shady, vernally (springtime) moist places on cliffs and ledges, especially at low elevations; often growing in moss mats.

Distribution