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bare monkeyflower

Willis' monkeyflower

Habit Annuals, taprooted or fibrous-rooted. Perennials, rhizomatous, rarely rooting at proximal nodes, usually forming large colonies, rhizomes white, usually highly branching.
Stems

erect or ascending, simple or few-branched from basal nodes, branches mostly reddish purple, (5–)9–30 cm, glabrous or minutely stipitate-glandular, hairs 0.05–0.1 mm, at least just above nodes.

usually sprawling-decumbent, branched, sometimes simple, 7–45 cm, nodes (2–)4–15+, densely glandular-villous, hairs 1–2 mm, glandular, internodes evident.

Leaves

cauline on wide internodes;

petiole 5–30 mm, distals 0 mm;

blade 1-veined or palmately 3–5-veined, proximals lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate to ovate, narrowly spatulate, or oblanceolate, distals usually linear, not perfoliate, 5–15(–30) × 1–5 mm, base attenuate, margins denticulate to proximally dentate-lobed, apex acute, surfaces glabrous or minutely stipitate-glandular, hairs 0.05–0.1 mm, at least just above nodes.

usually cauline, basal not persistent, distinctly separated;

petiole 0 mm, sometimes 1–2 mm at proximal nodes;

blade bicolored, purplish abaxially, pinnately veined, ovate to elliptic-ovate, midcauline 10–35 × 6–18 mm, base rounded to subcordate, margins coarsely serrate-dentate to denticulate or subentire, apex short-attenuate to acute, obtuse, or rounded, surfaces densely glandular-villous, hairs 1–2 mm, gland-tipped.

Flowers

herkogamous, (2–)4–8, usually in proximal or medial to distal axils, chasmogamous.

herkogamous, (4–)8–30+, from medial to distal nodes, sometimes from all nodes.

Styles

glabrous.

glabrous.

Corollas

yellow, without a large red splotch, throat floor and tube red-spotted, bilaterally symmetric, bilabiate;

tube-throat cylindric-funnelform, 8–12 mm, exserted 2–4 mm beyond calyx margin;

limb expanded 8–12 mm.

yellow, throat, tube, and proximal portion of abaxial 3 lobes with fine, red to brownish lines, weakly bilaterally or nearly radially symmetric, weakly bilabiate or nearly regular;

tube-throat narrowly funnelform, 12–15 mm, exserted beyond calyx margin;

limb 9–12 mm wide (pressed), lobes oblong-obovate, apex rounded to notched.

Fruiting pedicels

erect in flower, spreading to divaricate, rarely recurved, in fruit, 10–35 mm, glabrous or minutely stipitate-glandular, hairs 0.05–0.1 mm, at least just above nodes.

4–20(–25) mm, densely glandular-villous, hairs 1–2 mm, gland-tipped.

Fruiting calyces

ovate-campanulate, inflated, sagittally compressed, 6–13 mm, glabrous or minutely stipitate-glandular, hairs 0.05–0.1 mm, at least just above nodes, throat closing, abaxial lobe upcurving over lateral ones, nearly closing orifice.

ridge- to wing-angled, campanulate to cylindric-campanulate, weakly inflated, 7–10 mm, densely glandular-villous, lobes erect to slightly spreading, unequal, triangular to linear-lanceolate, 2–4 mm, apex acuminate-apiculate.

Capsules

included, 6–7 mm.

included, 4–5 mm.

Anthers

included, glabrous.

included, glabrous or finely hirtellous to scabrous.

Erythranthe nudata

Erythranthe willisii

Phenology Flowering Apr–Jun. Flowering May–Sep.
Habitat Open gravelly seeps on serpentine outcrops, serpentine crevices, springs, streamsides, gravelly creek beds, roadside drainages and swales. Seepage, drainage margins, moist soils, talus, cracks and crevices, soils deprived from serpentine.
Elevation 200–700 m. (700–2300 ft.) (500–)700–900 m. ((1600–)2300–3000 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
from FNA
CA
Discussion

Erythranthe nudata is distinct in its annual duration, few, inconspicuous, and narrow leaves, long and spreading-divaricate pedicels, and large corollas. The plants apparently are restricted to serpentine substrate and known only from Colusa, Glenn, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, and Sonoma counties.

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

Erythranthe willisii is narrowly endemic over serpentine along the North Fork Feather River (including the North Branch) in Plumas County. In the original description, its range was said to include serpentine localities in closely adjacent areas of east-central Butte, Plumas, and northwestern Yuba counties, but subsequent field work has shown that these peripheral populations are E. moschata, and that E. willisii occurs only in the bottom of the Serpentine Canyon area. The most consistent and recognizable features of E. willisii are the long, sprawling stems often spread over a large area, sometimes reaching at least 45 cm and often with many crowded nodes, sessile or subsessile leaves with rounded to subcordate bases, and short pedicels, characteristically no longer than the subtending leaves (except sometimes the distal ones where subtending leaves are distinctly reduced in size). It is possible that stem growth in E. willisii is indeterminate versus determinate in E. moschata. Sessile to subsessile leaves occur in E. moschata, especially in the California Sierra Nevada, but petiole length and leaf base shape are variable within populations; lack of petioles and a rounded/subcordate base are fixed characters in E. willisii (as they are also in E. ptilota). Although large colonies of E. moschata are sometimes encountered, the individual plants tend to be erect (in California) and with few distal flowers. In the field, the dense vestiture of E. willisii is a prominent feature, but this is harder to distinguish in pressed specimens, and there is a strong tendency for purple abaxial leaf coloration in E. willisii. Phenology and flower morphology of E. willisii and E. moschata appear to be similar, but E. moschata in north-central California does not occur at as low elevations as E. willisii.

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

Source FNA vol. 17, p. 417. FNA vol. 17, p. 401.
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. microphylla, E. minor, E. montioides, E. moschata, E. nasuta, E. norrisii, 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. 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
Synonyms Mimulus nudatus
Name authority (Curran ex Greene) G. L. Nesom: Phytoneuron 2012-39: 44. (2012) G. L. Nesom: Phytoneuron 2017-17: 7, figs. 14–22. (2017)
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