Diplacus mephiticus

Skunky monkeyflower

Family: Phrymaceae · Type: annual · Native

Skunky monkeyflower is a California native annual found in the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains, southern Modoc Plateau, and southern eastern Sierra Nevada in openings of sagebrush and disturbed granite slopes at elevations of 470 to 3,975 meters. Flowering from May to August, this plant produces magenta, dark red-purple, or yellow flowers with a tube-throat 11 to 19 millimeters long and a corolla limb 9 to 17 millimeters wide. Growing 2 to 15 centimeters tall with glandular-hairy stems and a primary axis that is most dominant, particularly forming tufted clusters at higher elevations. Its dull olive-green leaves are notably hairy, especially along the margins, with proximal-most stem internodes slightly longer than others. The fruit is generally 6 to 12 millimeters long, developing on nodes that are relatively evenly spaced along the plant's structure.

Habitat: Openings in sagebrush or on disturbed slopes, generally around granite

Bloom period: May-Aug

Elevation: 470-3975 m

Bioregions: SNH, s MP, SNE

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