Mimulus
(from mimo, an ape; in reference to the ringent corolla). Monkey Flower. Including Diplacus. ORD. Scrophularineoe. A genus comprising about forty species of hardy or half-hardy, erect or decumbent, glabrous, pilose, or viscid, herbs, rarely tall or shrubby. They are dispersed over the extra-tropical or mountainous parts of America, Asia, Australia, and Africa, being numerous in Western America; but the genus is totally absent from Europe and the whole Mediterranean region. Flowers axillary, solitary, pedicellate, superior ones sometimes racemose; corolla bilabiate; upper lip erect or reflexed, bilobate; lower lip trilobate. Leaves opposite, undivided, entire, or toothed. The species are showy and ornamental, and their culture is very simple. All the herbaceous species thrive best in a rather moist situation, and are well worth naturalising in damp borders, by the margins of streams, and in similar situations. The shrubby species do best under pot culture in a cool greenhouse. The seed, being generally very small, must be sown on the surface, and only very lightly covered with soil. When the seedlings are 1in. or so high, they should be transferred singly to 6in. pots, and again into the next larger size just previous to flowering. An excellent compost for pot culture is two parts loam, one leaf soil, and one cow manure. The common Musk, M. moschatus, is a well-known and favourite plant, both for outside borders and for pot culture in spring. Its variety, Harrisonii, is a strong-growing, large-flowered form, which has become equally as popular as the type. It makes an excellent pot plant. Propagation of Mimulus may also be effected by cuttings and by divisions.
M. aurantiacus (orange). A synonym of M. glutinosus.
M. cardinalis (cardinal).* fl. red, large; peduncles longer than the leaves. June to August. l. stem-clasping, ovate, with erosely toothed margins. h. 1ft. to 3ft. Oregon to California and Mexico, 1835. An erect, villous, hardy perennial. (B. M. 3560; S. B. F. G. ser. ii. 358.)
M. Fremontii (Fremont's). fl. crimson, with spreading limb. l. spathulate or oblong. Stems 2in. to 4in. high. California, 1882. Half-hardy or greenhouse perennial, suitable for pot culture.
M. glutinosus (glutinous).* fl., corolla usually buff or salmon-colour, obscurely bilabiate. Flowers nearly all the year round. l. linear-lanceolate, sub-connate, serrulate, acute. h. 5ft. California. A very elegant, erect, branching, greenhouse shrub. SYN. Diplacus glutinosus. (B. M. 354, under name of M. aurantiacus.)
M. g. puniceus (scarlet).* fl. varying from orange-red to scarlet; corolla lobes commonly obcordate. Western California. (B. M. 3655, under name of Diplacus puniceus.)
M. guttatus (speckled). A synonym of M. luteus guttatus.
M. Lewisii (Lewis').* fl. rose-coloured; corolla lobes spreading; peduncles longer than the leaves. August. l. amplexicaul, oblong, or rarely ovate, acute, somewhat toothed, many-nerved. h. 1ft. California, &c., 1831. Hardy, herbaceous, erect. SYN. M. roseus (under which name it is figured in B. M. 3353, B. R. 1591, L. B. C. 1976, and S. B. F. G. ser. ii. 210). M. luteus (yellow).* Common Monkey Flower. fl. yellow, with two dark marks in the mouth of the corolla. Summer. l. ovate or oblong, coarsely toothed. Stems ascending, stout, hollow, glabrous or glandular. h. 9in. to 12in. Chili, 1826. Though generally treated as a half-hardy or hardy annual, this species is, under favourable conditions, of perennial duration. (A. B. R. 661; B. M. 1501.) Mr. Hemsley remarks, in his "Handbook of Hardy Trees, Shrubs, and Herbaceous Plants": "M. variegatus (SYN. M. rivularis,) and M. guttatus are considered by some botanists as varieties of M. luteus, and by others as distinct species; and the fact that hybrids between these forms and M. luteus are frequent, seems to strengthen the former supposition. M. variegatus (L. B. C. 1872) is a Chilian form, having much larger, richly coloured flowers, irregularly blotched with crimson, maroon, or purple, on a yellow or white ground, sometimes uniformly yellow or reddish. M. guttatus is a Californian form near the last, in which the flowers are spotted with purple-brown on a yellow ground. The intermediate varieties of these three forms are numerous and beautiful." (B. M. 3336, 3363; B. R. 1030, 1796; S. B. F. G. ser. ii. 406.) M. l. Neuberti is a strain with double flowers. M. l. nobilis is a dwarf floriferous garden strain with "hose-in-hose" flowers varying in colour.
M. l. cupreus (coppery).* fl. copper-coloured, purplish-brown, or crimson, almost regular, with the limb of the corolla velvety and spotted. Summer. l. ovate-lanceolate, toothed; upper ones sessile. h. 8in. to 12in. Chili, 1861. (B. M. 5478; R. G. 422.) This species is the origin of a great number of very beautiful hybrids, known as M. maculosus.
M. moschatus (musk).* Musk. fl. yellow, small, nearly regular. June to September. l. petiolate, ovate, or ovate-lanceolate, a little toothed, rounded at the base, rather pilose, and somewhat clammy. Stems diffuse, clothed with woolly villi. North-western America, 1826. A well-known and favourite little hardy perennial. (B. R. 1118.)
M. primuloides (Primula-like).* fl. yellow, ringent, solitary, on axillary, scape-like, filiform peduncles, 3in. to 4in. long. l. obversely lanceolate or obovate, many-nerved. California, &c. Hardy tufted perennial. (R. G. 1009.) M. radicans (rooting). fl. white, with a violet blotch; upper lip small, bifid, lower large and three-lobed. l. small, densely packed, obovate, obtuse, hairy or glabrous, 1/4in. long. Stem creeping, with short leafy branches. New Zealand, 1883. A very pretty and attractive hardy perennial bog plant.
M. repens (creeping). fl. lilac, with a yellow-spotted throat, comparatively large. l. opposite, ovate or oblong. Australia, 1864. A dwarf greenhouse or half-hardy perennial. (B. M. 5423.)
M. rivularis (river-bank). A synonym of M. luteus variegatus.
M. roseus (rosy). A synonym of M. Lewisii.
M. variegatus (variegated). A synonym of M. luteus variegatus.