Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses - Roundleaf monkeyflower

ROUNDLEAF MONKEYFLOWER

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Mimulus glabratus Kunth var. jamesii (Torr. & A. Gray) A. Gray

Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 1-20 inches

Family: Scrophulariaceae - Figwort Family

Flowering Period: May, June, July, August

Also Called:

Yellow monkey-flower, swamp monkey flower, smooth monkey flower, james' monkeyflower.

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. Named after Edwin James, 1797-1861, a surgeon and naturalist who was an early botanical collector in Colorado and Texas. Latin mimulus is a diminutive of mimus "mimic" or "buffoon", perhaps in reference to the corolla which appears to be grinning. In Greek, mimo means "an ape". Latin glaber is "without hair" or "becoming smooth". Three mimulus species are native to Kansas. The other two, (Mimulus alatus and Mimulus ringens), have bluish-purple to lavender flowers.

Roundleaf monkeyflower leaves and flower