Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses - Round-leaf monkey-flower

ROUND-LEAF MONKEY-FLOWER

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Erythranthe geyeri (Torr. ) G.L. Nesom

Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 1-20 inches

Family: Phrymaceae - Lopseed Family

Flowering Period: May, June, July, August

Also Called:

Geyer's monkey-flower.

Stems:

Creeping to decumbent, to 30 inches long, weak, hollow, much branched, glabrous to sparsely hairy, rooting at lower nodes.

Leaves:

Opposite, sessile or short-stalked, nearly circular to kidney-shaped, .4 to 1.2 inch long, .6 to 1.2 inch wide, upper leaves usually broader than long, palmately veined; margins toothed; bases rounded to heart-shaped.

Inflorescences:

Flowers from upper leaf axils; stalks slender, .2 to 1.6 inches long.

Flowers:

Calyces bell-shaped, 1/5 to 1/2 inch long, 5-lobed, 5-angled, enlarging after flowering; lobes unequal, posterior 1 largest, blunt, rounded, twice as large as lateral and anterior lobes; corolla bell-shaped, 1/3 to 1/2 inch long, bright yellow, sometimes with reddish-brown dots, 2-lipped; upper lip 2-lobed, lower lip 3-lobed; throat open, 2 elevated ridges, heavily bearded; stamens 4, 2 long, 2 short; stigmas 2.

Fruits:

Capsule, broadly egg-shaped, 1/5 to 2/5 inch long, flattened, 2-celled; seeds numerous, elliptic-ovoid, brownish.

Habitat:

Shallow water of slowly flowing streams, ponds, cold springs, muddy banks; usually in calcareous locations.

Distribution:

Throughout Kansas.

Uses:

The shoots and young leaves are sometimes used in salads. Native Americans used the plant as an indicator of surface water.

Comments:

This aquatic plant forms dense tangled mats. Was formerly named Mimulus glabratus.

Roundleaf monkeyflower leaves and flower