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Kellogg's Monkeyflower

Mimulus kelloggii

Kellogg's monkeyflower is a tiny California annual, often only a few inches tall, with flowers disproportionately large for the plant — deep purple trumpets with a paler throat, held almost stemless against the foliage. It appears in spring on open slopes, roadcuts and recently burned ground, one of the species that flushes spectacularly in the first year or two after fire before the shrubs close back over. Populations swing wildly with winter rainfall; a site carrying thousands of plants one spring can have none the next. It needs bare, seasonally damp mineral soil to germinate and finishes its entire life cycle before the ground dries in summer. It is a larval host for checkerspot butterflies. Its range is narrow, essentially the northern California foothills, and it is a plant to leave where it grows rather than collect.

Family

Phrymaceae

Type

wildflower

Lifespan

annual

Height

0–1 ft

Spacing

0.5–1 ft apart

Light

part shade

Soil moisture

wet

Soil pH

neutral, acidic

Bloom

March, April, May, June

Bloom colors

purple

Wildlife value

pollinators, hummingbirds, butterflies, larval host

Landscape uses

border, container, rain garden

Native states

CA, OR