Mimulus

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Asterids
Cladus: Lamiids
Ordo: Lamiales

Familia: Phrymaceae
Genus: Mimulus
Species: M. alatus – M. aquatilis – M. gracilis – M. madagascariensis – M. orbicularis – M. ringens – M. strictus

Name

Mimulus L. Sp. Pl. 2: 634 (1753).

Type species: Mimulus ringens L. Sp. Pl. 2: 634 (1753).

Homonyms

Mimulus Adans. Fam. Pl. 2: 211 (1763).

Note: This species circumscription is a view of Mimulus s.s. sensu Barker et al., (2010) and Hassler et al., (2017)
References

Linnaeus, C. 1753. Species Plantarum. Tomus II: 634. Reference page.
Barker, W.R., Nesom, G.L., Beardsley, P.M. & Fraga, N.S. 2012. A taxonomic conspectus of Phrymaceae: A narrowed circumscription for Mimulus, new and resurrected genera, and new names and combinations. Phytoneuron 2012-39: 1–60. PDF Reference page.
Hassler, M. 2017. Mimulus. World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World In: Roskovh, Y., Abucay, L., Orrell, T., Nicolson, D., Bailly, N., Kirk, P., Bourgoin, T., DeWalt, R.E., Decock, W., De Wever, A., Nieukerken, E. van, Zarucchi, J. & Penev, L., eds. 2017. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published online. Accessed: 2017 Apr. 8. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2015. Mimulus. Published online. Accessed: Mar. 16 2015.
Tropicos.org 2015. Mimulus. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 16 Mar. 2015.

Vernacular names
беларуская: Губасцік
Deutsch: Gauklerblumen
English: Monkey Flower
suomi: Apinankukat
français: Mimule
Nederlands: Maskerbloem
русский: Губастик

Mimulus /ˈmɪmjuːləs/[1] is a plant genus in the family Phrymaceae, which was traditionally placed in family Scrophulariaceae. The genus now contains only seven species, two native to eastern North America and the other five native to Asia, Australia, Africa, or Madagascar.[2] In the past, about 150 species were placed in this genus, most of which have since been assigned to other genera, the majority to genus Erythranthe.

Mimulus species prefer wet or moist areas and are not drought resistant.[3] Several are cultivated as ornamental garden plants. The cultivar 'Highland Red' has received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.[4]

Name

Mimulus is based on the Latin word mimus ('mimic', especially in the context of acting). This may have to do with the flowers seeming to have grinning faces resembling those of monkeys.[5]
Taxonomy

Before the 2012 restructuring, two large groups of species had long been recognized in the genus Mimulus as it was traditionally defined, with the largest group of species in western North America, and a second group with center of diversity in Australia. In the 2012 restructuring of Mimulus by Barker, et al., based largely upon DNA evidence, seven species were left in Mimulus, 111 placed into Erythranthe (species with axile placentation and long pedicels), 46 placed into Diplacus (species with parietal placentation and sessile flowers), two placed in Uvedalia, and one each placed in Elacholoma, Mimetanthe, and Thyridia.[2][6][7]

Removal of Mimulus from family Scrophulariaceae has been supported by studies of chloroplast DNA first published in the mid-1990s.[8] Multiple studies of chloroplast DNA and two regions of nuclear rDNA[9] suggest that the genera Phryma, Berendtiella, Hemichaena, Leucocarpus, Microcarpeae, Peplidium, Glossostigma, and Elacholoma are all derived from within Mimulus and would need to be rearranged.[10]
Species of Mimulus sensu stricto

The species remaining in Mimulus are:[2]

Mimulus alatus – Sharpwing monkey-flower (eastern North America)
Mimulus aquatilis – (Queensland, Australia)
Mimulus gracilis – (Australia)
Mimulus madagascariensis – (Madagascar)
Mimulus orbicularis – (Bangladesh to Myanmar, central Thailand and Vietnam)
Mimulus ringens – Allegheny monkey-flower, square-stemmed monkey-flower (eastern North America)
Mimulus strictus – (Africa, India and Australia)

References

Sunset Western Garden Book. Maumelle: Leisure Arts. 1995. pp. 606–607. ISBN 978-0376038517.
Barker, W. L. (Bill); Nesom, Guy; Beardsley, Paul M.; Fraga, Naomi S. (2012). "A Taxonomic Conspectus of Phrymaceae: A Narrowed Circumscription for Mimulus, New and Resurrected Genera, and New Names and Combinations" (PDF). Phytoneuron. 39: 1–60. ISSN 2153-733X.
"California Monkey flowers". Las Pilitas Nursery. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
"Mimulus 'Highland Red'". RHS. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
Taylor, Ronald J. (1994) [1992]. Sagebrush Country: A Wildflower Sanctuary (rev. ed.). Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Pub. Co. p. 48. ISBN 0-87842-280-3. OCLC 25708726.
Cooley, Arielle M.; Willis, John H. (2009). "Genetic divergence causes parallel evolution of flower color in Chilean Mimulus". New Phytologist. 183 (3): 729–739. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8137.2009.02858.x. PMID 19453433.
Vallejo-Marín, Mario; Buggs, Richard J.; Cooley, Arielle M.; Puzey, Joshua R. (2015). "Speciation by genome duplication: Repeated origins and genomic composition of the recently formed allopolyploid species Mimulus peregrinus". Evolution. 69 (6): 1487–1500. doi:10.1111/evo.12678. PMC 5033005. PMID 25929999.
Beardsley, P. M.; Yen, Alan; Olmstead, R. G. (2003). "AFLP Phylogeny of Mimulus Section Erythranthe and the Evolution of Hummingbird Pollination". Evolution. 57 (6): 1397–1410. doi:10.1554/02-086. JSTOR 3448862. PMID 12894947. S2CID 198154155.
Beardsley, P. M.; Olmstead, R. G. (2002). "Redefining Phrymaceae: the placement of Mimulus, tribe Mimuleae, and Phryma". American Journal of Botany. 89 (7): 1093–1102. doi:10.3732/ajb.89.7.1093. JSTOR 4122195. PMID 21665709.
Beardsley, P. M.; Schoenig, Steve E.; Whittall, Justen B.; Olmstead, Richard G. (2004). "Patterns of Evolution in Western North American Mimulus (Phrymaceae)". American Journal of Botany. 91 (3): 474–4890. doi:10.3732/ajb.91.3.474. JSTOR 4123743. PMID 21653403.