Diplacus compactus

Compact monkeyflower

Family: Phrymaceae · Type: annual · Native

Compact monkeyflower is a California native annual found in the southern Sierra Nevada foothills from Mariposa to Tulare counties in burned areas, chaparral openings, and disturbed habitats at elevations of 90 to 1,250 meters. Flowering from April to July, this plant produces yellow to red-purple flowers with dark-based lobes, creating a striking corolla 8 to 12 millimeters wide. Growing with delicate stems 2 to 28 centimeters tall, it appears compact and low-growing in its native habitat. Its leaves are obovate to narrowly elliptic, measuring 4 to 40 millimeters long, with the lowest leaves typically glabrous. The plant's distinctive calyx is swollen and becomes reddish as the fruit develops, reaching 6 to 11 millimeters in length.

Habitat: Burns, openings in chaparral, disturbed areas

Bloom period: Apr-Jul

Elevation: 90-1250 m

Bioregions: SNF (s Mariposa to n Tulare cos.).

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.