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Bentham's monkeyflower, small-leaf monkey-flower

disappearing monkey-flower, ephemeral monkeyflower

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

erect, simple, sometimes many-branched from basal cauline nodes, terete, sometimes distinctly 4-angled, (3–)5–30(–45) cm, glabrous below inflorescence, sometimes distals hirtellous, hairs commonly deflexed, or mixed hirtellous and stipitate-glandular, sometimes only short villous-glandular, hairs gland-tipped.

erect to ascending, straight or geniculate at nodes, simple or branched at proximal and medial nodes, 6–20(–25) cm, minutely stipitate-glandular, hairs 0.1–0.3 mm, gland-tipped.

Leaves

basal and cauline, basal sometimes absent at flowering;

petiole: basal or proximals to medials 3–25(–35) mm, distals 0 mm (then blade subclasping to narrowly perfoliate);

blade often purplish, palmately 3–5-veined, ovate or ovate-lanceolate to elliptic-ovate, suborbicular, or depressed-ovate, (3–)10–35 × 3–25 mm, base rounded to truncate or subcordate, margins shallowly crenate to sharply crenate-serrate, teeth 5–10 per side, basal and proximal often irregularly incised near petiole and sublyrate, apex acute to obtuse-rounded, surfaces glabrous or sparsely to moderately hirtellous, eglandular.

usually cauline, basal usually deciduous by flowering;

petiole: proximals 1–3 mm, distals 0 mm;

blade palmately 3–5-veined, narrowly ovate or narrowly lanceolate to elliptic or elliptic-lanceolate, largest 8–18(–30) × (1–)3–7 mm, relatively even-sized, or slightly reduced distally, base attenuate to obtuse or rounded, margins entire, mucronulate, or denticulate, apex acute to obtuse, surfaces minutely stipitate-glandular, hairs 0.1–0.3 mm, gland-tipped.

Flowers

herkogamous, 1–8(–14), usually from distal nodes, chasmogamous.

plesiogamous, 10–20, from medial to distal nodes.

Styles

sparsely hirtellous.

glabrous.

Corollas

yellow to golden yellow or orangish yellow, usually red-spotted, abaxial limb sometimes with a large red splotch, bilaterally symmetric, bilabiate;

tube-throat broadly funnelform, (6–)8–16(–20) mm, exserted (1–)2–6(–8) mm beyond calyx margin;

limb expanded 8–25 mm, palate villous.

yellow to pale yellow, sparsely red-spotted or not, bilaterally symmetric, weakly bilabiate;

tube-throat cylindric, 5–8 mm, exserted 1–3 mm beyond calyx margin;

limb barely widened, lobes broadly obovate, apex rounded or mucronate.

Fruiting pedicels

8–30(–50) mm, distals hirtellous, hairs commonly deflexed, or mixed hirtellous and stipitate-glandular, sometimes only short villous-glandular, hairs gland-tipped.

straight, 7–18 mm, minutely stipitate-glandular, hairs 0.1–0.3 mm, gland-tipped.

Fruiting calyces

nodding 30–90º, sometimes red-tinged or -dotted, ovoid-campanulate to broadly cylindric-campanulate, inflated, sagittally compressed, (7–)9–16(–20) mm, minutely hirtellous, hairs sometimes reduced to basal cells, or glabrous, throat strongly to weakly closing.

winged, plicate-angled, maturing ovoid-ellipsoid to campanulate or broadly urceolate, distinctly inflated, 7–11 mm, margins distinctly toothed or lobed, sparsely, minutely hirtellous, eglandular, lobes pronounced, erect.

Capsules

included, 6–9(–11) mm.

included, 5–9 mm.

Anthers

included, glabrous.

included, glabrous.

2n

= 28, 56.

Erythranthe microphylla

Erythranthe inflatula

Phenology Flowering Mar–Jul. Flowering Jun–Jul.
Habitat Rock depressions, rocky ridges, cliff faces, roadcuts, wet meadows, seeps, stream banks, drying ponds, ephemeral stream channels, vernal springs over serpentine, roadsides and roadside ditches, dry banks, lava soils, loam, clay, gravel, yellow pine, oak-pine, mixed oak woodlands, oak-chaparral. Drying edges, banks, and beds of summer-dry watercourses, near drying edges of small lakes or impoundments, often among rocks and shoreline detritus, occasionally in moist protected areas beneath low shrubs.
Elevation 20–1700(–2600) m. (100–5600(–8500) ft.) 1200–1700 m. (3900–5600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; ID; NV; OR; WA; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
from FNA
CA; ID; NV; OR
Discussion

Erythranthe microphylla is characterized by its annual duration (fibrous-rooted), usually simple stems, relatively widely spaced leaves, glabrous or hirtellous vestiture, open corollas, and calyces closing at the throat. Even in the smallest corollas, the stigma is positioned above the adaxial anther pair, indicating that all are primarily allogamous. Some plants have basal and proximal cauline leaves with exaggeratedly and irregularly toothed-incised margins (especially in Lake and Napa counties, California, as in the types of Mimulus glareosus and M. guttatus var. insignis, respectively), but a similar tendency can be seen over most of the geographic range. Plants of E. microphylla vary greatly in height, leaf size, and flower size (the larger flowers approaching the size of those in E. grandis and E. decora), yet all seem to be within the expression of a single species.

An inversion sequence of chromosome 8 (the DIV1 region) is perfectly correlated with the life history features of at least four species of sect. Simiolus (D. B. Lowry and J. H. Willis 2010). One sequence occurs in Erythranthe guttata and E. grandis, which are perennial and rhizomatous, occur in habitats with year-round moisture, and flower relatively late in the season, while the opposite sequence occurs in E. nasuta and E. microphylla, which are annual and slender-taprooted or fibrous-rooted, occur in quickly drying habitats, and flower in early season. The inversion, with its tightly linked, locally adaptive alleles, contributes to isolating mechanisms between species with contrasting sequences and preserves the constellation of features that makes each a recognizable entity.

Hybridization and apparent introgression occur among Erythranthe guttata, E. microphylla, and E. nasuta, yet each remains distinct in duration, perennating morphology, and habit. Erythranthe arvensis (annual) also is a member of this gene-sharing group. A whole-genome analysis by A. D. Twyford and J. Friedman (2015) showed that populations of E. guttata and E. microphylla cluster together within each of several geographically delimited regions; they interpreted their trees as showing phylogenetic relationships and concluded that E. guttata and E. microphylla are conspecific. Other evidence (G. L. Nesom 2014c, 2014d), particularly the DIV1 inversion sequence, indicates that E. guttata and E. grandis are most closely related to each other and were derived from an ancestor of annual duration. Thus, E. microphylla and E. nasuta are morphologically and phylogenetically distinct from E. guttata, despite extensive gene flow where they are sympatric with it.

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

No natural occurrences of Erythranthe inflatula are known from Washington; the type collection from Klickitat County is from a cultivated plant.

Morphological and molecular data (R. J. Meinke 1995; P. M. Beardsley et al. 2004) indicate that Erythranthe inflatula originated as a hybrid between E. breviflora and E. latidens. Its geography and biology suggest that it is reproductively stable. The putative parents are geographically and ecologically separated for most of their ranges, and the range of E. inflatula is considerably broader than the relatively small region where the parents are sympatric. In the region of sympatry, however, E. inflatula may be difficult to distinguish from one or both of its putative parents. G. L. Nesom (2012g) was not able to find morphology that would distinguish the recently described Mimulus evanescens from E. inflatula.

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

Source FNA vol. 17, p. 415. FNA vol. 17, p. 400.
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. inconspicua, E. inflatula, E. jungermannioides, E. laciniata, E. latidens, E. lewisii, E. linearifolia, E. marmorata, E. michiganensis, 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. 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. 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 microphyllus, M. glareosus, M. guttatus var. depauperatus, M. guttatus var. insignis, M. guttatus var. microphyllus, M. guttatus var. platycalyx, M. langsdorffii var. insignis, M. langsdorffii var. microphyllus, M. luteus var. depauperatus, M. nasutus var. insignis, M. platycalyx Mimulus inflatulus, M. evanescens
Name authority (Bentham) G. L. Nesom: Phytoneuron 2012-39: 44. (2012) (Suksdorf) G. L. Nesom: Phytoneuron 2012-39: 38. (2012)
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