Flora of North America species comparison

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Diplacus mephiticus

Diplacus linearis

foul odor monkeyflower, skunky monkeyflower

chaparral bush monkeyflower, Monterey monkeyflower
Habit Herbs, annual. Subshrubs.
Stems

erect, (20–)30–150(–180) mm, glandular-pubescent and viscid-villous.

erect, 300–800(–1200) mm, minutely hirtellous to hirsutulous with slightly deflexed, eglandular hairs.
Leaves

usually cauline, relatively even-sized;

petiole absent;

blade ovate to oblong or narrowly elliptic to narrowly lanceolate, narrowly oblong, or linear, 10–25 × 1–5 mm, margins entire, plane, not ciliate, apex rounded to obtuse or acute, surfaces usually glandular-pubescent and (at least along veins) viscid-villous.

cauline, relatively even-sized;

petiole absent;

blade narrowly elliptic to narrowly lanceolate or narrowly elliptic-oblong, 12–37 × 3–9 mm, margins entire, serrulate, or mucronulate, plane or revolute, apex usually obtuse to rounded, surfaces glabrous.
Pedicels

1–3 mm in fruit.

3–10 mm in fruit.
Flowers

2 per node, or 1 or 2 per node on 1 plant, chasmogamous.

(1 or)2 per node, chasmogamous.
Styles

glabrous or sparsely glandular-puberulent.

minutely glandular.
Corollas

of 2 color forms: (a) dark magenta, purplish, or reddish with palate ridges or whole throat floor yellow, red- or purple-dotted, lateral lobes yellowish inside and (b) yellow with red or purple spots on floor, tube-throat 8–12(–15) mm, tube 1.3–1.9 mm diam. at filament insertion, limb 5–12(–15) mm diam., bilabiate.

yellow-orange to dull orange, not spotted or striped, palate ridges yellow, tube-throat 35–45 mm, limb 20–25 mm diam., bilabiate, lobes oblong, each apically incised 1/4–1/2 length, appearing 2-lobed.
Calyces

symmetrically attached to pedicels, slightly inflated in fruit, (3–)4–7(–9) mm, glandular-pubescent and viscid-villous (at least along veins), lobes subequal, apex acute to acuminate, ribs dark green to purplish, intercostal areas whitish.

not inflated in fruit, 20–28 mm, glabrous, tube slightly dilated distally, lobes unequal to subequal, apex acute.
Capsules

5–8 mm.

18–30 mm.
Anthers

exserted, short-hirsute.

included, glabrous.
Stigmas

exserted or at opening of corolla tube-throat, lobes subequal to unequal, abaxial to 2 times adaxial.

included, lobes equal.
2n

= 20.

Diplacus mephiticus

Diplacus linearis
Phenology Flowering (May–)Jun–Aug(–Sep). Flowering Apr–Jun.
Habitat Openings in sagebrush, disturbed slopes, granite outcrops, serpentine substrates, gravelly and sandy soils, sandy moraines, pumice flats, gravelly washes, meadows, shadscale and sagebrush communities, pinyon-juniper and ponderosa pine woodlands. Dry hillsides, rock outcrops.
Elevation 1300–3700 m. (4300–12100 ft.) 100–300 m. (300–1000 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; NV
[WildflowerSearch map]
from FNA
CA
Discussion

Diplacus mephiticus occurs in eastern California and west-central Nevada.

Various synonyms treated here are in agreement with D. M. Thompson (2005). Mimulus coccineus (mostly from Eldorado to Tulare counties, California, and, apparently, including Eunanus angustifolius Greene from Mt. Rose, Nevada) includes relatively small, tufted plants at high elevations with relatively small calyces and relatively small, dark red-purple, strongly bilabiate corollas with prominently exserted stamens. Mimulus densus (mostly in Nevada and in Lassen, Nevada, and Plumas counties, California) includes taller plants at lower elevations with a strong tendency to produce populations with all individuals with larger, yellow, nearly regular corollas with more nearly included stamens. Typical Diplacus mephiticus has moderate-sized plants at medium elevations with magenta, bilabiate corollas.

The specific epithet mephiticus alludes to the musky odor of the plants; this has also been noted in plants of Mimulus coccineus and M. densus. Diplacus nanus, in which D. M. Thompson (2005) included D. mephiticus as a variety, apparently does not produce a mephitic odor. Diplacus cusickii also produces a mephitic odor (W. L. Ezell 1971).

The later homonym Mimulus angustifolius (Greene) A. L. Grant 1925, not Hochstetter ex Richard 1850, based on Eunanus angustifolius, pertains here.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

The coastal Diplacus linearis (as Mimulus bifidus subsp. fasciculatus) was allied by F. W. Pennell (1947) with the Sierran D. grandiflorus (as M. bifidus subsp. typicus) as a narrower-leaved and smaller-flowered subspecies; see discussion concerning its distribution under 40. D. grandiflorus. The two were considered synonymous by D. M. Thompson (2005). They are distinct in geography, ecology, and morphology.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 17, p. 441. FNA vol. 17, p. 449.
Parent taxa Phrymaceae > Diplacus Phrymaceae > Diplacus
Sibling taxa
D. angustatus, D. aridus, D. aurantiacus, D. bicolor, D. bigelovii, D. bolanderi, D. brandegeei, D. brevipes, D. calycinus, D. cascadensis, D. clevelandii, D. clivicola, D. compactus, D. congdonii, D. constrictus, D. cusickii, D. cusickioides, D. deschutesensis, D. douglasii, D. fremontii, D. grandiflorus, D. graniticola, D. jepsonii, D. johnstonii, D. kelloggii, D. layneae, D. leptaleus, D. linearis, D. longiflorus, D. mohavensis, D. nanus, D. ovatus, D. parryi, D. parviflorus, D. pictus, D. pulchellus, D. puniceus, D. pygmaeus, D. rattanii, D. rupicola, D. rutilus, D. thompsonii, D. torreyi, D. traskiae, D. tricolor, D. vandenbergensis, D. viscidus
D. angustatus, D. aridus, D. aurantiacus, D. bicolor, D. bigelovii, D. bolanderi, D. brandegeei, D. brevipes, D. calycinus, D. cascadensis, D. clevelandii, D. clivicola, D. compactus, D. congdonii, D. constrictus, D. cusickii, D. cusickioides, D. deschutesensis, D. douglasii, D. fremontii, D. grandiflorus, D. graniticola, D. jepsonii, D. johnstonii, D. kelloggii, D. layneae, D. leptaleus, D. longiflorus, D. mephiticus, D. mohavensis, D. nanus, D. ovatus, D. parryi, D. parviflorus, D. pictus, D. pulchellus, D. puniceus, D. pygmaeus, D. rattanii, D. rupicola, D. rutilus, D. thompsonii, D. torreyi, D. traskiae, D. tricolor, D. vandenbergensis, D. viscidus
Synonyms Mimulus mephiticus, M. coccineus, M. coccineus var. wolfii, M. densus, M. nanus var. mephiticus, M. reifschneiderae, M. stamineus, M. washoensis, M. wolfii Mimulus linearis, D. fasciculatus, D. longiflorus var. linearis, M. bifidus subsp. fasciculatus, M. glutinosus var. linearis, M. longiflorus var. linearis
Name authority (Greene) G. L. Nesom: Phytoneuron 2012-39: 29. (2012) (Bentham) Greene: Pittonia 2: 156. (1890)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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