COMMON MONKEY-FLOWER.
Mimulus luteus, L. Figwort Family.
Varying greatly in size. Stems.—One to four feet high. Leaves.—Mostly smooth; ovate-oval or cordate; coarsely notched. Flowers.—Yellow. Calyx.—Sharply five-angled; unevenly five-lobed. Corolla.—One or two inches long; lower lip usually spotted with brown purple. Stamens.—Four; in pairs. Anthers with two divergent cells. Ovary.—Two-celled. Style long and slender. Stigma with two rounded lips. Hab.—Common throughout California.
The bright canary-colored blossoms of the common monkey-flower are a familiar sight upon almost every stream-bank. The plant varies greatly in size, according to the locality of its growth. I once saw it flourishing in the rich soil of a lake-shore, where its hollow stems were as large as an ordinary cane, and its blossoms grotesquely large.
M. moschatus, Dougl., the common musk-plant of cultivation, is usually found along mountain-streams. It may be known by its clammy, musk-scented, light-green herbage. Its flowers are larger than in cultivation.
M. brevipes, Benth., is common from Santa Barbara to San Diego, upon hillsides in spring. It has stems a foot or two high, lanceolate leaves one to four inches long, and large, handsome yellow flowers, having a pair of ridges running down their open throats.
[COMMON MONKEY-FLOWER—Mimulus luteus.]
![[COMMON MONKEY-FLOWER—Mimulus luteus.]](#3624944100741987669_f046.png.id-9037960264111811682.wrap-0.html.html){kind=link}