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sand-loving monkeyflower

cardinal monkey flower, scarlet monkey-flower

Habit Annuals, fibrous-rooted or filiform-taprooted. Perennials, rhizomatous.
Stems

erect to ascending, straight or geniculate at nodes, simple or branched, 5–20 cm, villous-glandular, hairs 0.2–0.8 mm, gland-tipped.

usually erect to ascending, freely branched, 25–75 cm, ± glandular-villous or glabrate.

Leaves

basal and cauline;

petiole 0 mm or proximals 1–3(–5) mm;

blade 1-veined or palmately 3-veined, elliptic to narrowly elliptic, ovate-elliptic, or ovate-lanceolate, 5–12(–17) × 3–7 mm, base rounded to cuneate-attenuate, margins entire or sparsely dentate to serrate, apex acuminate to acute or obtuse, surfaces villous-glandular, hairs 0.2–0.8 mm, gland-tipped.

usually cauline;

petiole 0 mm;

blade palmately veined, elliptic-ovate to ovate or obovate, 20–90(–110) × 10–38(–60) mm, thick, base acuminate, subclasping, margins irregularly serrate to dentate, apex acute, surfaces ± glandular-villous to glabrate.

Flowers

herkogamous, 1–22, from proximal to distal nodes.

herkogamous, 2–12, axillary at leafy medial to distal nodes.

Styles

glabrous.

glabrous.

Corollas

yellow, abaxial limb red-dotted, bilaterally symmetric, weakly bilabiate;

tube-throat funnelform, 9–12(–14) mm, exserted beyond calyx margin;

lobes broadly obovate, apex rounded.

scarlet to orange-red, rarely yellow, throat yellowish, red-striped, palate red, yellow-villous, not spotted or striped, bilaterally symmetric, strongly bilabiate;

tube-throat funnelform, (15–)20–30 mm, exserted beyond calyx margin;

throat open.

Fruiting pedicels

divergent-arcuate, 10–23 mm, villous-glandular, hairs 0.2–0.8 mm, gland-tipped.

30–90(–120) mm.

Fruiting calyces

usually red-dotted, narrowly campanulate, not or weakly inflated, 5–7(–9) mm, margins distinctly toothed or lobed, villous-glandular, ribs angled, lobes pronounced, erect.

cylindric to cylindric-campanulate, not inflated, 17–28(–30) mm, hispid-hirsute to hirsute, lobes 4–7 mm, ovate to ovate-deltate, apex attenuate-acute.

Capsules

included, 4–7 mm.

included, 10–16 mm.

Anthers

included, glabrous.

exserted, white-villous, thecae spreading.

2n

= 32.

= 16.

Erythranthe arenaria

Erythranthe cardinalis

Phenology Flowering May–Sep. Flowering May–Sep.
Habitat Sandy flats, bars, gullies, washes, trails, roadcuts, seasonal creek beds and drainages, rocky slopes, seepy loam, ditches, lake edges, meadows, openings in pine-fir and pine-oak woodlands. Moist to wet places along streams, lakes, creek beds, canyon, arroyo, and ravine bottoms, around springs and seepage areas, flood plains, moist clearings and woods edges.
Elevation (100–)500–2600(–2800) m. ((300–)1600–8500(–9200) ft.) (5–)50–2300(–2800) m. ((0–)200–7500(–9200) ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
from FNA
CA; NV; OR; WA; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
Discussion

Erythranthe arenaria is known from a cluster of six counties of the central Sierra Nevada: Fresno, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Tulare, and Tuolumne.

Most plants of Erythranthe arenaria have relatively even-sized cauline leaves, all sessile to proximally subsessile. Plants in the Yosemite area with persistent basal leaves that are short-petiolate, ovate with a cuneate base, and relatively larger than the more distal cauline ones, and possibly related to E. arenaria, have been named M. floribundus var. subulatus. These might be construed as showing the influence of E. geniculata, but that species occurs only at the lower range of elevation of E. arenaria, while plants referable to Mimulus floribundus var. subulatus occur at least to 2300 m and also have the erect habit characteristic of E. arenaria. These variants should be investigated, especially in the Yosemite area where they appear to be relatively common, with the possibility that they indeed represent a distinct entity.

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

Yellow-flowered populations of Erythranthe cardinalis occur on Cedros Island, Baja California, and in the Siskiyou Mountains of Oregon (R. K. Vickery 1992). They have been documented also on Santa Cruz Island, California.

Populations of Erythranthe cardinalis in King and Yakima counties, Washington, are introduced and naturalized.

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

Source FNA vol. 17, p. 403. FNA vol. 17, p. 393.
Parent taxa Phrymaceae > Erythranthe Phrymaceae > Erythranthe
Sibling taxa
E. acutidens, E. alsinoides, E. ampliata, E. androsacea, E. arenicola, E. arvensis, E. barbata, E. bicolor, E. brachystylis, E. breviflora, E. breweri, E. caespitosa, E. calcicola, E. calciphila, E. cardinalis, E. carsonensis, E. charlestonensis, E. chinatiensis, E. cinnabarina, E. corallina, E. cordata, E. decora, E. dentata, E. diffusa, E. discolor, E. eastwoodiae, E. erubescens, E. exigua, E. filicaulis, E. filicifolia, E. floribunda, E. gemmipara, E. geniculata, E. geyeri, E. glaucescens, E. gracilipes, E. grandis, E. grayi, E. guttata, E. hallii, E. hardhamiae, E. hymenophylla, E. inamoena, E. inconspicua, E. inflatula, E. jungermannioides, E. laciniata, E. latidens, E. lewisii, E. linearifolia, E. marmorata, E. michiganensis, E. microphylla, E. minor, E. montioides, E. moschata, E. nasuta, E. norrisii, E. nudata, E. palmeri, E. pardalis, E. parishii, E. parvula, E. patula, E. percaulis, E. primuloides, E. ptilota, E. pulsiferae, E. purpurea, E. regni, E. rhodopetra, E. rubella, E. scouleri, E. shevockii, E. sierrae, E. suksdorfii, E. taylorii, E. thermalis, E. tilingii, E. trinitiensis, E. unimaculata, E. utahensis, E. verbenacea, E. washingtonensis, E. willisii
E. acutidens, E. alsinoides, E. ampliata, E. androsacea, E. arenaria, E. arenicola, E. arvensis, E. barbata, E. bicolor, E. brachystylis, E. breviflora, E. breweri, E. caespitosa, E. calcicola, E. calciphila, E. carsonensis, E. charlestonensis, E. chinatiensis, E. cinnabarina, E. corallina, E. cordata, E. decora, E. dentata, E. diffusa, E. discolor, E. eastwoodiae, E. erubescens, E. exigua, E. filicaulis, E. filicifolia, E. floribunda, E. gemmipara, E. geniculata, E. geyeri, E. glaucescens, E. gracilipes, E. grandis, E. grayi, E. guttata, E. hallii, E. hardhamiae, E. hymenophylla, E. inamoena, E. inconspicua, E. inflatula, E. jungermannioides, E. laciniata, E. latidens, E. lewisii, E. linearifolia, E. marmorata, E. michiganensis, E. microphylla, E. minor, E. montioides, E. moschata, E. nasuta, E. norrisii, E. nudata, E. palmeri, E. pardalis, E. parishii, E. parvula, E. patula, E. percaulis, E. primuloides, E. ptilota, E. pulsiferae, E. purpurea, E. regni, E. rhodopetra, E. rubella, E. scouleri, E. shevockii, E. sierrae, E. suksdorfii, E. taylorii, E. thermalis, E. tilingii, E. trinitiensis, E. unimaculata, E. utahensis, E. verbenacea, E. washingtonensis, E. willisii
Synonyms Mimulus arenarius, M. floribundus var. subulatus, M. multiflorus, M. subulatus, M. trisulcatus Mimulus cardinalis, M. cardinalis var. exsul, M. cardinalis var. griseus, M. cardinalis var. rigens
Name authority (A. L. Grant) G. L. Nesom: Phytoneuron 2012-39: 38. (2012) (Douglas ex Bentham) Spach: Hist. Nat. Vég. 9: 313. (1840)
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