Flora of North America species comparison

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Diplacus tricolor

Diplacus bicolor

tricolor monkeyflower

harlequin monkeyflower, Whitney's monkeyflower
Habit Herbs, annual, acaulescent or caulescent. Herbs, annual, herbage usually drying dark.
Stems

erect or ascending, 10–140(–170) mm, densely glandular-puberulent.

erect or ascending, 10–140(–220) mm, glandular-puberulent to glandular-pubescent.
Leaves

basal densely clustered;

petiole absent;

blade narrowly elliptic to oblanceolate, (5–)8–45(–60) × (1–)3–12(–20) mm, margins entire, sometimes toothed, plane, not ciliate, apex obtuse, surfaces glandular-puberulent.

usually cauline, relatively even-sized;

petiole absent;

blade narrowly elliptic to narrowly oblanceolate, linear-lanceolate, or linear, (4–)7–23(–34) × 1–5(–8) mm, margins entire, plane, not ciliate, apex acute, surfaces glandular-puberulent.
Pedicels

1–3(–5) mm in fruit.

1–3(–4) mm in fruit.
Flowers

1 per node, chasmogamous.

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

usually glandular-puberulent.

glandular-puberulent.
Corollas

tricolored, limb and throat magenta to purple, each lobe with a discrete, dark maroon-purple blotch at base, all 3 blotches of abaxial lip round and not usually extending into throat, palate ridges yellow, flanked with white, sometimes purple-spotted, tube-throat (13–)15–50 mm, limb 7–21 mm diam., bilabiate, lobes equal.

(a) magenta, darkening toward mouth and within tube, often nearly obscuring dark longitudinal stripes within, throat floor or at least palate ridges yellow, or (b) yellow, usually with maroon stripes in throat extending onto lobe bases, sometimes with maroon blotches on adaxial lateral walls of throat, colored palate ridges ending in throat, tube-throat (10–)13–18(–20) mm, limb 10–19 mm diam., not bilabiate.
Calyces

slightly asymmetrically attached to pedicel, not inflated in fruit, (6–)11–23 mm, densely glandular-puberulent, lobes subequal, apex obtuse, ribs often purplish proximally, intercostal areas whitish.

symmetrically attached to pedicels, not inflated in fruit, (3–)4–8(–10) mm, glandular-puberulent, tube not strongly plicate, lobes triangular, subequal, apex acute-apiculate, ribs narrow, darkened, purplish, thin, not strongly raised, intercostal areas pale green.
Capsules

(2–)3–8(–10) mm, indehiscent.

(4.5–)6–10(–13) mm.
Anthers

included, with apical tufts of short, eglandular hairs.

included, ciliate.
Stigmas

nearly exserted, lobes subequal.

included, lobes equal.
2n

= 18.

= 16.

Diplacus tricolor

Diplacus bicolor
Phenology Flowering Mar–Jul(–Aug). Flowering May–Sep.
Habitat Vernally flooded depressions in grasslands, low spots and ditches in and around agricultural fields. Disturbed areas, water runoff areas, granitic soils, edges of granite outcrops.
Elevation 50–1500 m. (200–4900 ft.) (1200–)1500–3300 m. ((3900–)4900–10800 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR
[WildflowerSearch map]
from FNA
CA
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Diplacus tricolor occurs in northwestern and south-central Oregon and from there across a disjunction to central California as far as Kern County.

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

Diplacus bicolor is endemic to Fresno, Kern, and Tulare counties in the southern Sierra Nevada. The combination D. whitneyi (A. Gray) G. L. Nesom is illegitimate, as Mimulus whitneyi A. Gray 1886, is a replacement name based on Eunanus bicolor A. Gray 1868.

Diplacus bicolor, D. bigelovii, D. constrictus, D. graniticola, D. layneae, and D. thompsonii appear to be closely related species, sometimes intergrading where sympatric. Plants of each species often produce flowers at all nodes and have dark magenta corollas with nearly regular to weakly bilabiate limbs and villous vestiture. Specimens of each species dry to a dark color.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 17, p. 447. FNA vol. 17, p. 437.
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. 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. vandenbergensis, D. viscidus
D. angustatus, D. aridus, D. aurantiacus, 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. 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 tricolor Eunanus bicolor, M. nanus var. bicolor, M. whitneyi
Name authority (Hartweg ex Lindley) G. L. Nesom: Phytoneuron 2012-39: 30. (2012) (A. Gray) Hrusa: Phytoneuron 2014-17: 1. (2014)
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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