False Monkey Flower

Description

Mimetanthe pilosa is a species of monkeyflower known by the common names false monkeyflower and downy mimetanthe. It is native to the western United States and Baja California, where it grows in moist and disturbed habitat types. This plant is different enough from other monkeyflowers that it is often treated in its own monotypic genus, Mimetanthe or retained in Mimulus. It was formerly known as Mimulus pilosus. This is an annual herb growing to a maximum height of about 35 centimeters. It is coated densely in long hairs. The oppositely arranged, narrow or wide lance-shaped leaves 1 to 3 centimeters long. The tubular base of the flower is encapsulated in a calyx of sepals. The yellow flower corolla is under a centimeter long, divided into five rounded lobes at the mouth, and often dotted with red in the throat.