It took several shots before I was able to capture the color the way it appeared to my eye. Yellow is so difficult to photograph! Yes, I imagine the red dots mean something to the pollonators.
I think that is one of the great mysteries of life. I used the Burke Museum website for the ID. (They seem to be more up to date than USDA Plants.) It appears that the genus Mimulus is being replaced by the genus Erythranthe (although I can’t even begin to understand why or even how they will do that with so many different species involved and so much that has been written about them). As far as I can tell the two species (guttatus and tilingii) are nearly identical, but the arrangement of the flowers are axial in E tilingii and racme in E guttatus and they appeared to be axial in the ones that I photographed. I fail to understand why that difference requires two separate species instead of one species and a sub-species, but that is one of many reasons why I’m not a botanist.
We have that here too but I haven’t seen one this year. Now that you have reminded me, I have some pictures taken quite a few years ago (June 20, 2008) of a tricolor monkeyflower on a forest service trail about 20 miles from here (Mimulus tricolor) that is supposed to grow only in California and Oregon. It is by far the prettiest of the monkeyflowers in my opinion. Maybe next week if it cools off a bit I’ll hike up there. It’s a tough trail: goes up about 3,000 feet in three miles. USFS trail 205.
I’ve never heard of the Mimulus tricolor so I looked it up and I agree that it’s the prettiest one I’ve seen. It would be well worth a hike to see it but I don’t know about a thousand feet per mile!
Yes. I wonder if the rare plant people in your state know about it. Here it’s called the New Hampshire Natural Heritage Bureau. It lists rare plants and also allows you to report findings.
Montana does a very poor job with things like that. There is a website called “Montana Field Guide” but it is far from complete and I think it is pretty much ignored.
I’m glad to know you find yellow difficult to photograph, too. Sometimes, the conditions are right, and the color in my images matches what I saw in the world, but more often than not, it’s off. It can be faded and dull, but it more often tends toward orange. There isn’t one answer, of course — every situation is different. It’s just encouraging to know I’m not alone! As for “monkey-flower” — that’s a strange name. On the other hand, when I looked up the tri-color, I decided they could call it whatever they like. It’s beautiful.
I’ve been thinking about the tri-color too and I plan to go on a very early hike tomorrow to see if they are blooming where I saw them before. It’s hot here now though (at least by our standards) and I may not want to make the whole hike: I’ll see in the morning.
Very rich colour. Interesting little dots for attracting bees, I suppose.
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Comment by wordsfromanneli — June 26, 2017 @ 11:24 am
It took several shots before I was able to capture the color the way it appeared to my eye. Yellow is so difficult to photograph! Yes, I imagine the red dots mean something to the pollonators.
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Comment by montucky — June 26, 2017 @ 1:16 pm
How does this differ from Mimulus guttatus?
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Comment by Sharon Huff — June 26, 2017 @ 11:35 am
I think that is one of the great mysteries of life. I used the Burke Museum website for the ID. (They seem to be more up to date than USDA Plants.) It appears that the genus Mimulus is being replaced by the genus Erythranthe (although I can’t even begin to understand why or even how they will do that with so many different species involved and so much that has been written about them). As far as I can tell the two species (guttatus and tilingii) are nearly identical, but the arrangement of the flowers are axial in E tilingii and racme in E guttatus and they appeared to be axial in the ones that I photographed. I fail to understand why that difference requires two separate species instead of one species and a sub-species, but that is one of many reasons why I’m not a botanist.
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Comment by montucky — June 26, 2017 @ 1:31 pm
Nice rich color. I’m still waiting for our purple monkey flowers (Mimulus ringens) to appear.
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Comment by New Hampshire Garden Solutions — June 26, 2017 @ 2:50 pm
We have that here too but I haven’t seen one this year. Now that you have reminded me, I have some pictures taken quite a few years ago (June 20, 2008) of a tricolor monkeyflower on a forest service trail about 20 miles from here (Mimulus tricolor) that is supposed to grow only in California and Oregon. It is by far the prettiest of the monkeyflowers in my opinion. Maybe next week if it cools off a bit I’ll hike up there. It’s a tough trail: goes up about 3,000 feet in three miles. USFS trail 205.
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Comment by montucky — June 26, 2017 @ 3:54 pm
I’ve never heard of the Mimulus tricolor so I looked it up and I agree that it’s the prettiest one I’ve seen. It would be well worth a hike to see it but I don’t know about a thousand feet per mile!
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Comment by New Hampshire Garden Solutions — June 26, 2017 @ 4:26 pm
I remember the first time I hiked that trail. I called it “the longest three mile hike in Montana”.
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Comment by montucky — June 26, 2017 @ 4:40 pm
It sounds like it!
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Comment by New Hampshire Garden Solutions — June 26, 2017 @ 5:08 pm
Probably why no one else has “discovered” the flower too.
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Comment by montucky — June 26, 2017 @ 5:17 pm
Yes. I wonder if the rare plant people in your state know about it. Here it’s called the New Hampshire Natural Heritage Bureau. It lists rare plants and also allows you to report findings.
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Comment by New Hampshire Garden Solutions — June 26, 2017 @ 5:21 pm
Montana does a very poor job with things like that. There is a website called “Montana Field Guide” but it is far from complete and I think it is pretty much ignored.
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Comment by montucky — June 26, 2017 @ 5:59 pm
It would be fun to be a wildflower namer, wouldn’t it?
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Comment by Candace — June 26, 2017 @ 9:32 pm
It would. I think I could do much better on a lot of them! I’m not extra fond of “Monkey-flower” as a name for example.
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Comment by montucky — June 26, 2017 @ 9:42 pm
Some of the names seem quite logical or at least whimsical. Others are just nonsensical (except to the namer, I guess).
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Comment by Candace — June 26, 2017 @ 9:44 pm
Logical or even whimsical I can live with.
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Comment by montucky — June 26, 2017 @ 9:47 pm
I’m glad to know you find yellow difficult to photograph, too. Sometimes, the conditions are right, and the color in my images matches what I saw in the world, but more often than not, it’s off. It can be faded and dull, but it more often tends toward orange. There isn’t one answer, of course — every situation is different. It’s just encouraging to know I’m not alone! As for “monkey-flower” — that’s a strange name. On the other hand, when I looked up the tri-color, I decided they could call it whatever they like. It’s beautiful.
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Comment by shoreacres — June 27, 2017 @ 8:40 pm
I’ve been thinking about the tri-color too and I plan to go on a very early hike tomorrow to see if they are blooming where I saw them before. It’s hot here now though (at least by our standards) and I may not want to make the whole hike: I’ll see in the morning.
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Comment by montucky — June 27, 2017 @ 9:21 pm
What a beautiful flower .. bright and happy
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Comment by Julie@frogpondfarm — July 1, 2017 @ 3:38 pm
That’s how I see it too!
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Comment by montucky — July 1, 2017 @ 7:56 pm