Mandala
10/18/17
Bush Monkey Flower
Scientific Name: Mimulus aurantiacus (also known as, Diplacus aurantiacus)
Biome: Riparian
Reasons why I researched the Bush Monkey Flower:
Bush Monkey Flower
Scientific Name: Mimulus aurantiacus (also known as, Diplacus aurantiacus)
Biome: Riparian
Reasons why I researched the Bush Monkey Flower:
- While I was looking through my notebook trying to figure out which plant to research, this was one of the plants that stuck out to me because of it’s name. The bush monkey flower got its name because some of the species, within the Mimulus genus, have flowers that look like a monkey’s face.
- Another reason why I was curious about the bush monkey flower was because of the fact that it was a kind of flower and while we were on the hike, I didn’t remember seeing any flowers. During research, I found out that they usually bloom in an extended period from spring to summer.
- The Bush Monkey Flowers’ location was curious to me during our hike because it was listed as a plant from the water-based biome, Riparian. I found out later that they could be apart of Coastal Sage Scrub (or other non-wetland areas) but would occasionally occur in wetlands, where the land is more saturated.
- I found it interesting how the Bush Monkey Flower was said to not be very drought-tolerant yet they have been growing here in California. It turns out the plant is able to survive drought by going summer deciduous; meaning it sheds its leaves to grow more in another season.
- The last reason I decided to choose this plant was because it seemed different than all of the other plants we saw during the hike. Most of the plants I saw and listed were from chaparral and I wanted to look into plants outside of the chaparral biome.