SCROPHULARIACEAE FIGWORT FAMILY 
MONKEY FLOWER 
Mimulus ringens L. 
The Monkey Flower is so called because the corolla seems to 
be grinning as a monkey might. It is common in swamps, along 
streams and in other wet places from Nova Scotia to Virginia and 
Tennessee, west to Mani- ; 
toba, Nebraska and 
Texas. 
It is perennial by un- 
derground stems, and 
the whole plant is 
smooth. The square aer- 
ial stems are 1-3 feet high 
and usually much 
branched. The opposite 
leaves are sessile and 
usually the upper clasp 
the stem at the base. 
Violet flowers are pro- 
duced from June to Sep- 
tember singly in the axils 
of the leaves. The ped- 
uncles are at least twice 
as long as the s-angled and s-toothed calyx. The corolla, 
2-lipped at the end, is tubular and has a pair of ridges within 
on the lower side. The upper lip consists of 2 lobes that are turned 
back, and the lower lip has 3 rounded lobes. The 4 stamens 
are inserted in pairs on the corolla tube. The style is very slender 
and the stigma is 2-lobed. The fruit is a many-seeded capsule. 
The Wing-stemmed Monkey Flower, Mimulus alatus Ait., which 
may be found in Illinois swamps along with the Monkey Flower, has 
a more sharply angled and winged stem, and all the leaves are 
petioled. The calyx teeth are less than one-quarter the length of the 
calyx and the peduncles are shorter than the calyx. 
The Yellow Monkey Flower, Mimulus glabratus HABK. var. 
Famesii (T. & G.) Gray, likewise prefers cool brooks, ponds or springs 
but is very local and may be restricted to the northern half of the 
state. It may be recognized by the bright yellow axillary flowers, 
one-half inch long and with the throat of the very irregular 2-lipped 
corolla bearded and somewhat open. The smooth stems are pros- 
trate, much branched and rooting at the nodes. The membranous 
leaves are nearly round and palmately veined, the lower petioled. 
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