Mimulus ringens (Blue Monkeyflower) - photos and description
General: Rhizomatous perennials, with an erect
growth habit, and simple stems. Plants are glabrous, and have square
stems.
Seed for this plant is available commercially, is easy from seed, we
grow it in our garden.
Flowers: The flowers have 5 lobes, with a large lip and two spreading lobes, and grow from upper leaf axils. The corolla ranges in colour from violet to purple-blue. I measured a flower at 25 mm long and 22 mm wide. Begin flowering mid July.
Leaves: Leaves are opposite, sessile, oblong-lanceolate, with very small teeth from mid-leaf to the leaf apex. We measured a leaf at 55 mm long and 20 mm wide.
Height: Listed in Budd's Flora to 100 cm, we measured plants to 45 cm tall.
Habitat: River shoals and steam banks in the boreal forest.
Abundance: This plant is very rare, ranked as an S2 (as of 2021) by the Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre.
Origin: Native.
When and where photographed: The above photos were taken along the Red Deer River, July 13th, August 6th, and August 21st, about 400 km north east of our home in Regina, SK.