Mimulus ringens
Mimulus ringens is a species of monkeyflower known by the common names Allegheny monkeyflower and square-stemmed monkeyflower.
| Mimulus ringens | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Lamiales |
| Family: | Phrymaceae |
| Genus: | Mimulus |
| Species: | M. ringens |
| Binomial name | |
| Mimulus ringens | |
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It is native to eastern and central North America, and there are occurrences in the western United States, some of which may represent introductions. It grows in a wide variety of wet habitat types. Seeds are available from commercial suppliers.
This is rhizomatous perennial growing 20 centimeters to well over a meter tall, its 4-angled stem usually erect. The oppositely arranged leaves are lance-shaped to oblong, up to 8 centimeters long, and sometimes joined or nearly so clasping the stem. The herbage is hairless. The flower 2 to 3 centimeters long, its tubular base encapsulated in a ribbed calyx of sepals with pointed lobes. The flower is lavender in color and divided into an upper lip and a larger, swollen lower lip.
One variety of this plant, var. colophilus, is rare, ecologically restricted, and vulnerable. It is known from Quebec, it has been reported in Vermont, and there are a few occurrences in Maine, where it grows only in freshwater sections of tidal estuaries.[1] This plant variety faces several threats, but its current status is not known due to a lack of data.[1]