Flora of North America species comparison

The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Erythranthe purpurea

Erythranthe unimaculata

little purple monkeyflower, purple monkeyflower

green-palate monkeyflower
Habit Annuals, taprooted. Annuals, shallowly fibrous-rooted or slender-taprooted, sometimes rooting at proximal nodes.
Stems

erect, simple or branched from basal nodes, 3–10 cm, minutely puberulent.

erect or basally ascending-erect, simple or few-branched, becoming fistulose in larger plants, (2–)10–30(–100) cm, delicately short glandular-villous to stipitate-glandular, often glabrous below inflorescence.
Leaves

cauline, basal not persistent;

petiole 0 mm;

blade palmately 3–5-veined, elliptic to lanceolate, 4–15 × 1–5 mm, base truncate to truncate-cordate, clasping, margins entire, sometimes toothed, apex acute to obtuse, surfaces minutely puberulent.

usually cauline, basal sometimes persistent, distal connate-perfoliate, often bractlike;

petiole: proximals 4–10(–15) mm, distals 0 mm;

blade: proximals sometimes subpinnately veined, usually with (1 or)2 pairs arising from midvein above base, becoming palmately veined distally, ovate-lanceolate to ovate or broadly ovate-elliptic, mid cauline 12–40(–50) × 10–25(–45) mm, base rounded to truncate or cuneate, margins shallowly dentate-serrate to serrate, teeth 7–12 per side, apex rounded to obtuse, surfaces glabrous, sometimes with sharp-pointed hirtellous, vitreous-flattened, or gland-tipped hairs.
Flowers

herkogamous, 1–22, from distal or medial to distal nodes.

herkogamous, (1–)3–14, usually from mid stem and distally, chasmogamous.
Styles

glabrous.

hirtellous.
Corollas

pink to purple, adaxial limb darker than abaxial, abaxial limb with yellow markings, bilaterally symmetric, strongly bilabiate;

tube-throat cylindric to funnelform, 7–13 mm, exserted beyond calyx margin;

limb expanded 7–10 mm, bilabiate, 3 abaxial lobes notched, 2 adaxial nearly entire, abaxial limb sparsely bearded.

pale yellow, palate and abaxial throat dark yellow, drying blue-green, red-spotted, bilaterally symmetric, bilabiate;

tube-throat funnelform to subfunnelform, (7–)9–14 mm, exserted 3–4 mm beyond calyx margin;

limb broadly expanded (8–17 mm pressed), palate densely bearded.
Fruiting pedicels

ascending to often spreading horizontally, 13–57(–70) mm.

10–40 mm, delicately short glandular-villous to stipitate-glandular, often glabrous below inflorescence.
Fruiting calyces

becoming reddish, campanulate, 3–8 mm, margins distinctly toothed or lobed, minutely puberulent, ribs thickened, lobes pronounced, erect, margins glabrous.

nodding 30–90º, broadly campanulate, inflated, sagittally compressed, 9–13(–15) mm, sparsely glandular-villous to stipitate-glandular, throat closing, adaxial lobe distinctly longer.
Capsules

included, 3–8 mm.

included, 5–8 mm.
Anthers

included, glabrous.

included, glabrous.
2n

= 28.

Erythranthe purpurea

Erythranthe unimaculata
Phenology Flowering May–Jun. Flowering Jan–Jun.
Habitat Moist openings along streams, swales, and depressions, pine duff in yellow pine forests, margins of dry meadows. Stream and canal sides, pool edges, canyon bottoms, sand, gravel, and mud, riparian habitats, pine-oak forests.
Elevation 1900–2800 m. (6200–9200 ft.) 200–2000 m. (700–6600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
from FNA
AZ; NM; Mexico (Chihuahua, Sonora)
Discussion

Erythranthe purpurea is restricted to the San Bernardino Mountains in San Bernardino County and is disjunct in the Sierra San Pedro Mártir in Baja California, Mexico.

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

Erythranthe unimaculata is recognized by its annual duration (fibrous-rooted, without stolons or rhizomes), delicate-glandular vestiture, mostly sessile to subsessile, often widely spaced leaves, closed fruiting calyces, and relatively large, pale yellow to nearly white corollas with a dark yellow palate that commonly dries blue-green. The breeding system is allogamous. Plants commonly are single-stemmed and usually erect but sometimes produce decumbent-ascending stems branching from the base, these sometimes rooting at proximal nodes.

Erythranthe unimaculata is known from Cochise, Gila, Pima, and Santa Cruz counties, Arizona, and from Doña Ana County, New Mexico.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 17, p. 388. FNA vol. 17, p. 413.
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. nudata, E. palmeri, E. pardalis, E. parishii, E. parvula, E. patula, E. percaulis, E. primuloides, E. ptilota, E. pulsiferae, 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. utahensis, E. verbenacea, E. washingtonensis, E. willisii
Synonyms Mimulus purpureus, M. purpureus var. pauxillus Mimulus unimaculatus
Name authority (A. L. Grant) N. S. Fraga: Phytoneuron 2012-39: 35. (2012) (Pennell) G. L. Nesom: Phytoneuron 2012-39: 44. (2012)
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).



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Fabaceae, Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

Choose a data source: Flora of North America

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers