Diplacus congdonii

Congdon's monkeyflower

Family: Phrymaceae · Type: annual · Native

Congdon's monkeyflower is a California native annual found in northern coastal ranges, Sierra Nevada foothills, San Francisco Bay Area, northern Santa Lucia Mountains, western Transverse Ranges, and Peninsular Ranges at elevations of 120 to 1,100 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces magenta flowers with delicate tube-throats 8 to 30 millimeters long. Growing as a compact plant less than 12 centimeters tall with puberulent to hairy stems, it appears delicate and understated. Its leaves are oblanceolate to elliptic, 8 to 32 millimeters long, with green upper surfaces and purple undersides, and slightly ciliate edges. The fruit is a small, hard, laterally compressed structure 4 to 8.5 millimeters long that remains closed after maturation.

Habitat: Disturbed areas, sloped runoff areas, generally granitic or serpentine soils

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: 120-1100(1700) m

Bioregions: NCoR, SNF, SnFrB, n SCoRO (Monterey Co.), WTR (Ventura Co.), PR (San Diego Co.).

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