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Douglas' Monkeyflower

Diplacus douglasii

Also called Purple Mouse Ears

Douglas' Monkeyflower
Photo: Oregon Caves from Cave Junction, USA, CC BY 2.0

A tiny annual wildflower of California and Oregon foothills, with magenta flowers and a gold-and-purple throat. It grows best in moist, well-drained spots such as creek banks and serpentine soils, and is grown mainly by enthusiasts of native plants.

Family
Phrymaceae (Phrym family)
Grows as
Annual
Light
Full sun, Part shade
Water
Keep soil evenly moist during the growing season, avoiding waterlogging.
Soil
Well-drained soil; serpentine or gritty mixes suit it, with some moisture retention.
Temperature
10–25 °C; tolerates cool, mild weather and is frost-tender.
How easy
Moderate
Safety
Toxic
Native range
SW. Oregon to N. & C. California
Climate
temperate

About

Diplacus douglasii is a species of monkeyflower known by the common names brownies and purple mouse ears. It is native to the mountains and foothills of California and Oregon, where it is often found on serpentine soils. D. douglasii was first described in a published flora by George Bentham, an English botanist who was considered "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". It was later described by Asa Gray, the father of North American botany.

Where it grows

Diplacus douglasii occurs between 45 – 1200 meters elevation in the mountains and foothills of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada Ranges in California and Oregon. It is also found in Southwestern Oregon, Central Western California, and in the Warner Mountains of California

Other Diplacus plants

Narrowleaf Pansy Monkeyflower · San Diego bush monkeyflower · Diplacus × australis · Harlequin Monkeyflower · Bigelow's Monkeyflower · Bolander's Monkeyflower · Santa Cruz Island Monkeyflower · Wide Throat Yellow Monkey Flower · Kaweah River bush monkeyflower · Cascade Monkeyflower · Cleveland's bush monkeyflower · North Idaho Monkeyflower

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Diplacus douglasii by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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