Burke: Erythranthe washingtonensis vs. Erythranthe alsinoides

	Erythranthe washingtonensis	Erythranthe alsinoides
	Washington monkey-flower	chickweed monkey-flower, wing-stem monkey-flower
Habit	Annuals with fibrous roots or threadlike taproot; stems 5-25 cm, erect to ascending, straight or sharply bent at nodes, typically heavily branched, not angled; puberulent- to villous-glandular, flattened gland-tipped hairs 0.1-0.8 mm, sometimes transparent.	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 cauline, basal ones not persistent; petioles 2-14 mm; blade triangular to ovate to narrowly ovate, 4-16 mm long and 2-11 mm broad, palmate venation, base rounded to cuneate to truncate, margins finely toothed or entire, apex acute, surfaces hairy-glandular as stems.	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	Axillary flowers 1-6, emerging from nodes throughout; fruiting pedicels 20-50 mm, densely covered with minute stalked glands; calyx greenish, ridged, tubular, slightly inflated, 6-8 mm, margins toothed or lobed, covered with minute stalked glands, lobes pronounced, erect; corollas yellow with small reddish brown dots, lower limb with two whitish patches, symmetric bilaterally, bilabiate; tube-throat funnel-shaped and 8-10 mm, protruding beyond calyx margin; limb expanded 7-10 mm, lobes obovate-oblong, apex rounded to somewhat cuneate; styles hispid-hirtellous; anthers not protruding, glabrous.	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(s)	Capsules 5-8.5 mm, included.	Capsule.

	Erythranthe washingtonensis	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	April-June	April-June
Habitat	Shallow or gravelly soils of vernally moist areas at low elevations.	Shady, vernally (springtime) moist places on cliffs and ledges, especially at low elevations; often growing in moss mats.
Distribution	Occurring east of the cascades crest in the Columbia River Gorge in Washington; south-central Washington to adjacent north-central Oregon. [WildflowerSearch map]	Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California. [WildflowerSearch map]
Origin	Native	Native
Conservation status	Historical in Washington (WANHP)	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. 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: OR, WA Local Web sites: 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

Washington monkey-flower

chickweed monkey-flower, wing-stem monkey-flower

Habit

Annuals with fibrous roots or threadlike taproot; stems 5-25 cm, erect to ascending, straight or sharply bent at nodes, typically heavily branched, not angled; puberulent- to villous-glandular, flattened gland-tipped hairs 0.1-0.8 mm, sometimes transparent.

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 cauline, basal ones not persistent;

petioles 2-14 mm;

blade triangular to ovate to narrowly ovate, 4-16 mm long and 2-11 mm broad, palmate venation, base rounded to cuneate to truncate, margins finely toothed or entire, apex acute, surfaces hairy-glandular as stems.

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

Axillary flowers 1-6, emerging from nodes throughout; fruiting pedicels 20-50 mm, densely covered with minute stalked glands;

calyx greenish, ridged, tubular, slightly inflated, 6-8 mm, margins toothed or lobed, covered with minute stalked glands, lobes pronounced, erect;

corollas yellow with small reddish brown dots, lower limb with two whitish patches, symmetric bilaterally, bilabiate;

tube-throat funnel-shaped and 8-10 mm, protruding beyond calyx margin;

limb expanded 7-10 mm, lobes obovate-oblong, apex rounded to somewhat cuneate;

styles hispid-hirtellous;

anthers not protruding, glabrous.

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(s)

Capsules 5-8.5 mm, included.

Capsule.

Erythranthe washingtonensis

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

April-June

Habitat

Shallow or gravelly soils of vernally moist areas at low elevations.

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

Distribution