Duration: Annual

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Forb/Herb

General: Small annual 6-32 cm tall, stems erect, simple to much branched, glandular and spreading villous.

Leaves: Opposite, sessile, entire, 1.2-3.5 cm long, narrowly elliptic to oblanceolate.

Flowers: Racemose inflorescence, flowers in axils of opposite foliose bracts, in pairs, deeply cleft calyx 5-8 mm long, unequal with the upper lobe longer, corolla 5-10 mm long, yellow, usually with maroon dots on the palate, long pedicellate, the pedicel 9-20 mm long.

Fruits: Loculicidal capsule finely glandular 5-7 mm long.

Ecology: Found in the sandy to gravelly soils along streams, seeps, and springs from 1,000-4,500 ft (305-1372 m); flowers April-August.

Notes: Can be distinguished from other Mimulus by its unique calyx, which is irregular and has weak angles and partially separated sepals. There is some question whether this species should be recognized as such or if it should remain as it was previously known, Mimulus pilosus. Beardsley et al. 2004, found that M. pilosus was sister to another large group of Mimulus in a study that determined that generic assignments needed to be reconsidered for all of Mimulus. This indicates it will probably remain as a separate species as named here.

Ethnobotany: Unknown

Etymology: Mimetanthe is of uncertain origins, while pilosa is from Latin pilosus, meaning hairy.

Synonyms: Mimulus pilosus

Editor: SBuckley, 2010