1018 



MIMULUS 



MtMULDS (Latin, a little mimic, from the grinning 

 fls.). Scrophiiltiriiicete. This genus includes the Monkey 

 Flower, M. liiteus, and the Musk Plant, M. moschatits. 

 Monkey Flowers are something like snapdragons, though 

 they do not have a closed throat. They are 2-lipped fls.. 

 with 2 upper and 3 lower lobes, which are all rounded 

 and usually irregularly splashed and dotted with brown 

 on a yellow ground. Though perennial, they are com- 

 monly treated as annuals and are considerably used for 

 pot culture in winter, as well as for summer bloom out- 

 doors. The Musk Plant is grown for its scented foliage 

 and pale yellow fls. It is sometimes used in hanging 

 baskets, but the foliage is so sticky that it gathers a 

 great deal of dust. 



Mimulus is a genus of about 40 species, mostly Ameri- 

 can: herbs, decumbent or erect, glabrous or pilose and 

 clammy, rarely shrubby : Ivs. opposite, entire or toothed : 

 fls. axillary, solitary or becoming racemose by the reduc- 

 tion of the upper iVs. ; calyx 5-angled, with 5 short or 

 long teeth; corolla tube cylindrical, sometimes swelled 

 at the throat; stamens 4, didynamous: capsule oblong 

 or linear, loculicidally dehiscf-nt. 



The kinds described below are all perennial at least 

 by underground parts, aiMl mil •.( i In m are natives of 

 wet and shady places in Hi.) 1, n \iin rica. Latest 



monograph by A. Gray in - ; II" \Mier.,Vol. II, 

 part 1, pp. 27.1, 442. They nr -i]., _r ,> _>-4 ft. high and 

 bloom all summer. Mintutua CnJifnyni'-a is advertised. 

 Diplacus is generally referred to Mimulus. \^r_ jj. 



The sight of Monkey Flowers always carries the writer 

 back to boyhood days. A certain window on his way to 

 school was brightened every spring by a fine display of 

 Monkey Flowers and Musk. Though these two species 

 were thus happily associated, it is doubtful whether the 

 owner knew of their kinship. There is nothing difficult 

 in the culture of Mimulus. Some of the finest plants 

 have been self-sown on a rubbish heap. Abundance of 

 water is essential. The seed has great vitality, and will 

 germinate for many years in the place where once seeds 

 have fallen. They are not hardy. 



M. liiteus, with its varieties and hybrids, particularly 

 var. maculosus, is the best known. There are double and 

 hose-in-hose varieties, but the singlejforms are the hand- 

 somest. It often self-sows in moist gardens. M. cardi- 

 nalis.a handsome Californian perennial, is occasionally 

 hardy, but does best treated as an annual. M. gltitinoxa 

 is a pretty shrubby species, with coppery fls., once a 

 common greenhouse plant, but rare enough now to be 

 almost a novelty. T p Hatfield. 



alatus, 10. ftvbridus. 1. rivularis, 1. 



alpinus, 1. Lewisii, 4. Raezlii, 1. 



aurantiacus, 6. luteus, 1, 2. roseus, 4. 



cardinalis, 5. maculosus, 1. tigridioides, 1. 



Clevelandi, 7. moschatus, 3. tigrimis, 1. 



cupreus, 2. parvlflorus, 8. variegatus, 1. 



gloriosus, 1. t}uinfinevutnerus,l. Youngeana, 1. 



glutinosus. 6. ringens, 9. 



A. Coloroffls. ijellow, brownor brick-red. 

 B. Plants herbaceous, 



c. Foliage not sticky or clammy .. 1. luteus 

 2. cupreus 

 cc. Foliage sticky and clammy. 

 D. iStamens notthriist out of the 

 corolla. 



E. .Lvs.pinnately veined .'{.moschatus 



EE. I/vs. parallel-veined 4. Lewisii 



DD. Stamens thrust out of the 



corolla 5. cardinalis 



BB. Plants shrubby, at least at the base. 

 c. Jyvs. linear, minutely toothed or 



entire 6. glutinosus 



cc. Lvs, lanceolate, serrate. 



D. Fls. yellow 7. Clevelandi 



DD. Fls. brick-red s. parviflorus 



AA. Color Of fls. Violet, III, rpi ,.,/-/,,■.. 

 B. I/vs.stalkless: piili'-' is h^mi^ rtli'in 



fls y. ringeng 



BB. X/vs. stalked: pedicels shorter than 



the calyx , 10. alatus 



1. lilteua, Linn. Monkev Flower. Fig. 1404. Gla- 

 brous, the larger forms 2-4 ft. high : Ivs. parallel-veined, 



MIMULUS 



sharply toothed, upper ones smaller : corolla 1-2 in 

 long. Alaska to Chile. B. M. 1501.- Monkey Flowers 

 nearly always have yellow throats with brown dots. The 

 lobes are sometimes clear yellow. In var. rivularis, 

 Lindl., only one lobe has a large brown patch. B.R. 

 12:1030. L.B.C. 16:157.5. In var. Youngeana, Hook., 

 every lobe has such a patch. B.M.3363. B.R. 20:1674. 

 I the common strains these patches are more or less 



1404. Forms of Mimulus luteus (X 



broken up and the fls. irregularlv mottled and dotted. 

 F. 1863:73 (as Jtf^. maculosus}. V. 10:289 (as M. hy- 

 bridus). A very distinct set of colors is represented by 

 var. varieg&tus. Hook., the throat chiefly white, but with 

 2 yellow longitudinal lines dotted with brown on the 

 middle lobe of the lower lip; all the lobes bright crim- 

 son purple, with a violet reverse B R 21 17% B M 

 3336 L B C 19 1872 Modified as described under var 

 lounqeana R H 1851 2C1 F 18o0 ld7 The pictures 

 cited abo^e heir viiirus legends which ire not here 



(hose in 1 



hybiidu^ I 



mus,t,g,,l I s 1 , 



advertised as V 11 letii s I ut ill r f them usuillv ■»! I'f'>'">s 



if they were species For ^f hybridus cupreus, Hort , 



see J/ cupreus 



Var. alpiaus. Gray (Jr. Itdzln, Hort.). About 2-12 in. 

 high, leafy to the top: stem 1-1-fld.: corolla Yi-IH in. 

 long. 



2. cilpreus, Regel {M. luteus, var. ciiprea, Hook.). 

 A Chilean species, differing from M. luteus in its tufted 

 habit and the fls. yellow at first, finally becoming copper- 

 colored, and the lobes possibly rounder and more nearly 

 equal, the throat yellow, spotted brown. B. M. 5478. 

 Un. 24, p. 177. R.H. 1883, p. 284. 



3. moscMtus, Dougl. McsK Plant. Perennial, by 

 creeping stems 1-3 ft. long: fls. pale yellow, lightly 

 dotted and splashed with brown. B.C. to Calif, and 

 Utah. B.R. I3:ll]8.-This and M. luteus have a broad 

 throat. The fls. are normally about 54 in. across, but in 

 F.M. 1877:248 (var. Harrisonii) they are IK in. across. 

 Hardy, evergreen trailer for damp, shady spots. Fine 

 for planting under cool greenhouse benches. 



4. L6wlsii, Pursh. A more slender plant than the 

 next, greener, and merely pubescent: Ivs. minutely 

 toothed: fls. rose-red or paler, the lobes all spreading. 

 Shadv, moist ground, B. 0. to Calif, and Utah. B.M. 

 3353 and B.R. 19:1591 (both as M. rosens). 



