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small-flower monkeyflower

California blushing monkeyflower

Habit Annuals, fibrous-rooted. Perennials, rhizomatous.
Stems

erect to ascending, simple or branched from base, 4-angled, 3–16 cm, glabrous.

erect, usually simple, 25–90 cm, stipitate-glandular to glandular-villous.

Leaves

basal and cauline;

petiole: proximals 1–5 mm, mid cauline and distals 0 mm;

blade palmately 3-veined, broadly elliptic to ovate or broadly ovate, 6–20 × 6–12 mm, base rounded to cordate, margins subentire to denticulate, apex obtuse to acute or acuminate, surfaces sparsely villous.

cauline;

petiole 0 mm;

blade palmately veined, elliptic to ovate, ovate-lanceolate, or lanceolate, (20–)30–90 × 5–25(–35) mm, base rounded to cuneate, subclasping, margins denticulate, subentire, or entire, apex acute, surfaces stipitate-glandular to glandular-villous.

Flowers

plesiogamous, 1–12, from proximal to distal nodes.

herkogamous, 2–8, axillary at leafy medial to distal nodes.

Styles

glabrous.

glabrous.

Corollas

pale pink to rose pink or purple to magenta, throat sometimes yellow, lobes sometimes yellowish with pale rose spots, bilaterally symmetric, weakly bilabiate;

tube-throat cylindric, 5–9 mm, exserted beyond calyx margin;

limb expanded 5–6 mm.

light pink, darker pink stripes down middle of each lobe, abaxial 3 lobes with a white basal patch, palate ridges yellow, bilaterally symmetric, strongly bilabiate;

tube-throat funnelform, 20–30 mm, exserted beyond calyx margins;

lobe apex usually truncate, shallowly retuse, throat open.

Fruiting pedicels

5–15 mm, glabrous.

45–90 mm.

Fruiting calyces

campanulate, 6–9 mm, margins subtruncate, glabrous, lobes reduced, subequal.

cylindric-campanulate, not inflated, 15–22 mm, stipitate-glandular to glandular-villous, tube 14–19 × 6–8 mm, lobes subequal to distinctly unequal, ovate, apex linear-caudate.

Capsules

included, 4–9 mm.

included, 7–13 mm.

Anthers

included, minutely villous-hirsute.

included, white-villous, thecae spreading.

2n

= 16.

Erythranthe inconspicua

Erythranthe erubescens

Phenology Flowering Apr–Jun(–Jul). Flowering Jul–Aug.
Habitat Steep, north- or northwest-facing slopes, canyon walls, moist talus, granitic sand on outcrops, moist gravelly open spots, sandy lakeshores, hillside streams or seeps, riparian woodlands, grassy slopes, gray pine, yellow pine, yellow pine-Kellogg oak, chaparral, Pseudotsuga-Pinus-Cornus, canyon live oak woodlands. Springs and seeps, meadows, cliffs, steep rocky slopes, ridges.
Elevation 200–2100 m. (700–6900 ft.) (1400–)1800–3000(–3500) m. ((4600–)5900–9800(–11500) ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
from FNA
CA; NV
[WildflowerSearch map]
Discussion

Erythranthe inconspicua occurs in Sierran counties from Kern north to El Dorado and then is apparently disjunct further northward to Butte County. A record from Los Angeles County (Bigelow s.n., 14 May 1854, the type of the species) is probably mislabeled, as other collections by Bigelow on the same day are from Calaveras County.

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

Erythranthe erubescens was long identified as E. lewisii but is distinct in its light pink corollas (versus mostly magenta-rose to purplish in E. lewisii), more broadly cylindric calyx tube [14–19 × 6–8 mm versus 12–15(–17) × 9–12 mm], and its geographic range in the Sierra Nevada of California (versus widespread from southern Alaska south to northwestern California, northern Utah, eastern Nevada, and northern Colorado in E. lewisii). The two are genetically isolated and phylogenetically distinct (see summary of evidence in G. L. Nesom 2014b).

In California, Erythranthe erubescens ranges from Modoc, Plumas, and Tehama counties south to Fresno County; in Nevada, it is known only from Washoe County and Carson City.

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

Source FNA vol. 17, p. 382. FNA vol. 17, p. 393.
Parent taxa Phrymaceae > Erythranthe Phrymaceae > Erythranthe
Sibling taxa
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. 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. 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. cardinalis, E. carsonensis, E. charlestonensis, E. chinatiensis, E. cinnabarina, E. corallina, E. cordata, E. decora, E. dentata, E. diffusa, E. discolor, E. eastwoodiae, 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 inconspicuus
Name authority (A. Gray) G. L. Nesom: Phytoneuron 2012-39: 34. (2012) G. L. Nesom: Phytoneuron 2014-31: 12, figs. 11–13. (2014)
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