1018 



MIMULUS 



MI.MULUS 



MtMULTJS (Latin, a little mimic., from the grinning 

 (is.), ticrophnlnriaceie. This genus includes the Monkey 

 Fiower, M. luteus, and the Musk Plant, M. mo^chatits. 

 Monkey Flowers are something like snapdragons, though 

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

 with 2 upper and 3 lower lobes, which arc 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 iised 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 upi)crivs.; calyx o-angled, with 5 short or 

 long teeth; corolla tube cylindrical, sometimes swelled 

 at the throat; stamens 4, didynamous: capsule oblong 

 or linear, loculicidally dehiscent. 



The kinds described l)elow are all perennial at least 

 by underground parts, and most of them are natives of 

 wet and shady places in northwestern America. Latest 

 monograph by A. Gray in Syn. Flo. N. Amer., Vol. II, 

 part 1, pp. 273, 442. They mostly grow 2-4 ft. high and 

 bloom all summer. Mimulus Ciiliforuica is advertised. 

 Diplacus is generally referred to Mimulus. ■^y^ ]\i_ 



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. Thougli 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. Inteus, with its varieties and hyl)rids, particularly 

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

 hose-in-hose varieties, but the single^forms are the hand- 

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

 nalis,tx handsome Californian perennial, is occasionally 

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

 is a pretty shrubby si)ef'.ies, with coppery fls., once a 

 common greenhouse jjlant, but rare enough now to be 

 almost a novelty. fp p IL^tfield. 



INOEX. 



alatus, 10. hyhriihts, 1, rivularis, ]. 



alpinus, 1. Ltwisii, 4. Iicezlii, 1. 



aiirantlacus , C. luteus, 1. 2. roseus, 4. 



cardinalis, b. tnanihisus, 1. tig ridioides , 1. 



Clevelandi, 7. iiiosrliatus, '.i. tigrinus, 1. 



cupreus, 2. ]);u-viliiii-Tis, H. variegatus, 1- 



gloriosiiH, 1. q}'iiiq^irvTilncrus,l. Youngeana, 1. 



glutinosus, G. ringoiis, U. 



A. Cohirof fl.^. yclloir, hrmvii or hrick-n-d. 

 B. Plants herbm-r.oas. 



0. Foliage vol sfirlci/ or rla}n»iij . . 1. Iuteu8 



'J., cupreus 

 cc\ Foliage sticlnj and chimimj. 

 D. Stanieus not thrust out of tlw 

 corolla. 

 E. .l/vs. pinnatchj veined. . . . :!. moschatus 



EE. Lvs. parallel-vein.i'd 4. Lewisii 



DD. Stamens thrust out of the 



corolla f). cardinalis 



BB. Plants shruf)/i_if , at frasl at the luisi . 

 e. fjvs. linear, lainuivhj tootJtn? or 



entire (i. glutm03U3 



r;c. Lfvs. lanceolate, srrrate. 



D. Fls. yellou^ 7. Cleveland! 



DD. Fls. brle/c-rcd 8. parviflorus 



.AA. Color of fls. violet, purple or lilac. 

 H. L/vs. stalkless: pedicels longer than 



fls I), ringens 



iiH. L)>s. stallccd: pedicels sliorfrr than 



t h e ca tyx 10. alatus 



1. liiteus, Linn. Monkry Flowru. Fig. T404. Gla- 

 bn.iis, the larger forms 2-4 ft. high : lvs. purallol-veined, 



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

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

 nearly always have yellow throats with brown dots. The 

 lobes are sometimes clear yellow. In var. rivuliria, 

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

 12:1030. L.B.C. 10:1575. In var. Younge^na, Hook., 

 every lobe bas such a patch. B.M.,33t53. B.R. 20:bi74. 

 In the common strains tliese patches are luore or less 



1404. Forms of Mimulus luteus (X %) • 



broken up and the fls. irregularly mottled and dotted. 

 F. 1863:73 (as it/, macnlosua). V. 10:289 (as M. hy- 

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

 var. variegEltus, 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. 21:1790. B.M. 

 3336. L.B.C. 19:1872. Modified as described under var. 

 Youngeana. R.H. 1851 : 261. F. 1850:137. The pictures 

 cited above bear various legends which are not here 

 repeated. The varietal names given above do not appear 

 in the trade, the leading current names being duph-x 

 (hose-in-hose), gloriosns, hyhridns, hyhridus tigrimts, 

 liyhridus tigrinus grandlfjorus, quinf/iierulurrus muxi- 

 ui us, tigridioldes and tigrinus. Some of tbest: names are 

 advertised as varieties, but all of them usually appear as 

 if they were species. For M. liyhridns cupreus, Htirt., 

 see M. cupreus. 



Vnr. alpinus, Gray (J/. Fo'-Jii, Hort.). About 2-12 in. 

 high, leafy to the tip: stem 1-4-fld.: corolla %-\}'i in. 

 long. 



2. ciipreus, Regel (.1/. tufeus, var. cuprca. Hook.). 

 A Chilean species, ditl'ering from M . tutens in its tutted 

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

 colored, and the lolies possibly rounder and more nearly 

 iiquMl. the tliroat yellow, spotted brown. B.M. 5478. 

 Gn. 24, p. 177. R.I-i.1883, p. 284. 



3. moschS-tus, Dougl. Musk Plant. Perennial, by 

 creeping stems l-.'S ft. long: fis. pale yellow, lightly 

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

 Utah. B.R. 13:1118. -Tltis ami Jf. luteus have abroad 

 throat. The fls. are normally about ?4 in. across, but in 

 F.1\I. 1877:248 (var. Harrisouii) they are iKin. 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; lvs. minutely 

 tootbe<l; fls. rose-red or paler, the lobes all spreading. 

 Sliadv, moist ground, B. G. to Calif, and Utah. B.M. 

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



