| Vandenberg Monkeyflower |
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| Family: Phrymaceae (Lopseed) |
| Flowers — color: yellow, size: 1", type: 5 petals |
Vandenberg Monkeyflower has a tubular flower with five lobes and reaches one inch wide. The two top lobes tend to fold back. The lower throat has many random red spots of different sizes. Stamens and pistil remain internal to the throat and difficult to observe. Some flowers form at leaf nodes and others in a raceme, a linear cluster at the stem end where lower buds bloom first. The green sepals at the base are covered with white hairs.
Habit:
Vandenberg Monkeyflower is an endangered annual. First described in 2005, it gained official status in 2015. Its primary range is BMER, the Mission, and on parts of VSFB, about ten square miles. The development of Vandenberg Village and Mission Hills possibly removed one quarter of its habitat.
I've observed Vandenberg Monkeyflower growing as a single vertical stem, 2–6 inches tall. The stem is green, but ages to red or brown and is covered in short hairs. The leaves are narrow elliptical and partially covered in hair. These hairs may be glandular, because they seem to capture many floating seeds.
The former scientific name identifies Vandenberg Monkeyflower as a variant or mutation from Fremont's monkeyflower, Diplacus fremontii. Fremont's monkeyflower has a magenta flower and much wider range, the coastal ranges from Monterey to Mexico. Experts say the only apparent difference between these plants is the flower color. They do not seem to crossbreed, so Vandenberg gained species status based on this distinction and its limited range.
Botanist use both Diplacus and Mimulus to describe monkeyflowers. The standards are shifting, and plants change families. Originally, the distinction was brown, woody versus green, fleshy stems, but now tolerance or damage by extra moisture and other factors are considered.
Despite a similar flower shape, Vandenberg Monkeyflower shares little in common with the perennial bush monkeyflowers. Open sunny spots with loose or compact sandy soil. In the location I found it, it preferred highly disturbed soil near the trail. Taking care to stay on the trail, I could not see any of the bright yellow flowers more than two feet from disturbed soil.
Observations:
I found these on a blooming hillside south of Burton Mesa Rd.