Mimulus laciniatus
Encyclopedia
Mimulus laciniatus is an uncommon species of monkeyflower
known by the common name Cutleaf monkeyflower.
is a raceme
of several tiny red-spotted yellow flowers each 4 millimeters to 1.5 centimeters long. The tubular base of each flower is encapsulated in a ribbed, reddish calyx of sepal
s.
, where it most often grows in moist areas on granitic soils
.
Mimulus
Mimulus is a diverse plant genus, the monkey-flowers and musk-flowers. The about 150 species are currently placed in the family Phrymaceae. The genus has traditionally been placed in Scrophulariaceae. The removal of Mimulus from that family has been supported by studies of chloroplast DNA first...
known by the common name Cutleaf monkeyflower.
Description
Mimulus laciniatus is an annual herb producing a mostly hairless stem reaching maximum heights between 3 and 38 centimeters. The oppositely arranged leaves are up to 5 centimeters in length and generally oval in shape, though some of them are divided into lobes. The inflorescenceInflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
is a raceme
Raceme
A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called pedicels — along the axis. In botany, axis means a shoot, in this case one bearing the flowers. In a raceme, the oldest flowers are borne...
of several tiny red-spotted yellow flowers each 4 millimeters to 1.5 centimeters long. The tubular base of each flower is encapsulated in a ribbed, reddish calyx of sepal
Sepal
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...
s.
Distribution
Mimulus laciniatus is endemic to the High Sierra Nevada in CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, where it most often grows in moist areas on granitic soils
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
.