Mimulus langsdorffii var. guttatus (Fisch. ex DC.) Jeps.
Erythranthe guttata, with the common names seep monkeyflower and common yellow monkeyflower, is a yellow
bee-pollinated annual or perennial plant. It was formerly known as Mimulus guttatus.[1][2][3][4][5]
Erythranthe guttata is a
model organism for biological studies, and in that context is still referred to as Mimulus guttatus.[6] There may be as many as 1000 scientific papers focused on this species. The genome is (as of 2012) being studied in depth.[7]
For combined research of evolution, genetics, and ecology, particularly plant-insect interactions, the yellow monkeyflower has become a model system. With the help of physically resistant protections called trichomes, which have been thoroughly examined, the yellow monkeyflower defends itself against herbivores.[8]
Description
A highly variable plant, taking many forms, E. guttata is a
species complex in that there is room to treat some of its forms as different species by some definitions.[9]
The plant ranges from 10 to 80 centimetres (4 to 31+1⁄2 in) tall with disproportionately large, 2 to 4 cm long, tubular flowers. The perennial form spreads with stolons or rhizomes. The stem may be erect or recumbent. In the latter form, roots may develop at leaf nodes. Sometimes dwarfed, it may be hairless or have some hairs.
Leaves are opposite, round to oval, usually coarsely and irregularly toothed or lobed. The bright yellow flowers are born on a
raceme, most often with five or more flowers.
The
calyx has five lobes that are much shorter than the flower. Each flower has bilateral symmetry and has two lips. The upper lip usually has two lobes; the lower, three. The lower lip may have one large to many small red to reddish brown spots (hence the name guttata, which is Latin for 'spotted').[10] The opening to the flower is hairy.[2][11][12][13][14][15]
Erythranthe guttata is pollinated by bees, such as Bombus species. Inbreeding reduces flower quantity and size and pollen quality and quantity. E. guttata also displays a high degree of
self-pollination.[16][17]Erythranthe nasuta (Mimulus nasutus) evolved from E. guttata in central California between 200,000 and 500,000 years ago and since then has become primarily a self-pollinator. Other differences have occurred since then, such as
genetic code variations and variations in
plant morphology.[18][19]E. guttata prefers a wetter habitat than E. nasuta.[20]
Distribution and habitat
A herbaceous wildflower, Erythranthe guttata grows along the banks of streams and seeps throughout much of western
North America from sea level to 12,000 feet (3,700 m).[21][22] Both annual and perennial forms occur throughout the species' range. It blooms during spring at low elevations, during summer at high elevations.[21]
The leaves are edible, both raw and cooked.[26][27] Leaves are sometimes added to salads as a lettuce substitute, they have a slight bitter flavour.[28]
^
abGiblin, David, ed. (2015).
"Erythranthe guttata". WTU Herbarium Image Collection. Burke Museum, University of Washington. Retrieved 2015-03-31.
^Beardsley, P. M.; Yen, Alan; Olmstead, R. G. (2003). "AFLP Phylogeny of Mimulus Section Erythranthe and the Evolution of Hummingbird Pollination". Evolution. 57 (6): 1397–1410.
doi:
10.1554/02-086.
JSTOR3448862.
PMID12894947.
S2CID198154155.
^Beardsley, P. M.; Olmstead, R. G. (2002). "Redefining Phrymaceae: the placement of Mimulus, tribe Mimuleae, and Phryma". American Journal of Botany. 89 (7): 1093–1102.
doi:
10.3732/ajb.89.7.1093.
JSTOR4122195.
PMID21665709.
^Klinkenberg, Brian, ed. (2014).
"Mimulus guttatus". E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia [eflora.bc.ca]. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Archived from
the original on 2017-06-26. Retrieved 2015-03-31.
^"Mimulus guttatus". Jepson eFlora: Taxon page. Jepson Herbarium; University of California, Berkeley. 2015. Retrieved 2015-03-31.
^Pojar, Jim; Andy MacKinnon (2004). Plants Of The Pacific Northwest Coast: Washington, Oregon, British Columbia & Alaska. Lone Pine Publishing. p. 264.
ISBN978-1-55105-530-5.
^Dole, Jefferey A. (1992). "Reproductive Assurance Mechanisms in Three Taxa of the Mimulus guttatus Complex (Scrophulariaceae)". American Journal of Botany. 79 (6): 650–659.
doi:
10.1002/j.1537-2197.1992.tb14607.x.
JSTOR2444881.
^Kiang, Y. T.; Hamrick, J. L. (1978). "Reproductive Isolation in the Mimulus guttatusM. nasutus Complex". The American Midland Naturalist. 100 (2): 269–276.
doi:
10.2307/2424826.
JSTOR2424826.
^Jensen, J.-K., Thorning-Lund, F. and Hammer, S. (2023), Supplement to Faroe Islands botanical list with 64 species or subspecies including rare, new and potentially invasive species with comments. Nordic Journal of Botany, 2023: e03586.
https://doi.org/10.1111/njb.03586