Allegheny Monkeyflower

Allegheny Monkeyflower

Mimulus ringens

Monkeyflower got its name from the fact that it resembles the face of a monkey.  I don't know ... it doesn't look any more like a monkey than anything else to me.  I'm guessing that whoever named it just liked monkeys.  Who doesn't?

An interesting thing I learned while perusing the web is that the stems and leaves tend to accumulate whatever salts are in the soil and were used by Native Americans to flavor their venison.  I'll have to give it a try sometime ... I hope you can believe everything you read on the Internet.



Looks just like a monkey!

Opposite, decussate leaves have no stems. Also notice the cool spider on the upper left leaf.

The plants are usually found near water