Downy Monkeyflower
False Monkeyflower
Mimulus pilosus
(Mimetanthe pilosa)
Photographed along Mesquite Wash, Maricopa Co., Arizona. May 10, 2008. A higher resolution image has been uploaded to Wikimedia.
ANNUAL: Spring annual mostly less than 30 cm
tall; generally growing erect.
LEAVES: Leaves are lanceolate and like the stems and sepals they are
covered with soft hairs. Opposite on stems.
RANGE: Fairly common in the higher elevations (
above 600 meters) of the Sonoran Desert in Arizona and Mexico
mostly in deep sandy washes with subsurface water close to surface.
FLOWERS: Yellow two-lipped flowers with four stamens and usually a
couple of reddish spots on lower lip. Flowers are only about
8 mm long and bloom mostly mid spring through early summer.
FRUIT: Dry single-seeded capsule with a number of seeds.
UNARMED.