Diplacus douglasii

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.[1] D. douglasii was first described in a published flora by George Bentham,[1] an English botanist who was considered "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century,.[2]" It was later described by Asa Gray, the father of North American botany.[3][4][5][6]

The leaf blades are 5–28 mm (0.2–1.1 in) long, ovate to obovate, and shiny green on their upper surfaces.[1]

Diplacus douglasii
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Phrymaceae
Genus: Diplacus
Species:
D. douglasii
Binomial name
Diplacus douglasii

Description

This description comes from the 2nd edition Jepson Manual: Vascular Plants of California.[7]

Diplacus douglasii is a diminutive annual herb that produces a magenta flower. The overall stature of the plant is very small, varying in height from 0.3 – 4 centimeters tall.

Like other monkeyflowers, the flowers are bisexual and bilaterally symmetrical, with fused petals that form a tube-throat.[8] The throat has gold and purple stripes, which form bold mottling. The tube and upper lips are magenta, and the lower lobes are so reduced that they appear absent. The flowers can be open or cleistogamous, staying closed and self-pollinating. The flower is persistent and sits atop a 2 – 4 millimeter pedicel. The calyx is generally green, hairy, and ranges in size from 8 – 14 millimeters, with unequal lobes.[1]

The leaves are ovate to obovate blades, which range in size from 5 – 28 millimeters. The upper side of the leaves are a shiny green and are generally hairy.

The seeds are hard, asymmetrically-ovid, and range in size from 2.5 – 6.5 millimeters.[1]

Distribution

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[1]

D. douglasii is classified as a serpentine indicator[9] and hence is most commonly found serpentine soils, but can also be found on bare clay or granitic soils.[1] As a hydrophyte, it is generally found along the upper banks of small creeks,[1] and is classified as a facultative wetland species.[10] However, it is important to note that D. douglasii is equally likely to be found in wetland and non wetland habitats, also occurring in chaparral and foothill woodland communities.[11]

Ecology

Diplacus douglasii flowers between February and April.[1]

Growing on serpentine soils, it has adaptations to survive conditions most plants can't tolerate. Serpentine soils are known to be deficient in essential nutrients for plants. In addition to being low in essential plant nutrients such as nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus, potassium and sulfur, serpentine soils also have high levels of magnesium and heavy metals including nickel, cobalt and chromium, which are toxic to most plants.[12]

Other plants commonly found growing alongside M. douglasii include:[13]

Creek clematis (Clematis ligusticifolia)

Bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum)

Yellow monkey flower (Mimulus guttatus)

Narrowleaf willow (Salix exigua)

California wild rose (Rosa californica)

Alkali rye (Leymus triticoides)

California mugwort (Artemisia douglasiana)

White alder (Alnus rhombifolia)

California bay (Umbellularia californica)

Red fescue (Festuca rubra)

California blackberry (Rubus ursinus)

Black cottonwood (Populus balsamifera ssp. trichocarpa)

California box elder (Acer negundo var. californicum)

Columbine (Aquilegia formosa)

Research

Monkeyflowers "have become model systems for the study of evolutionary processes in nature[5]", because of their diversity in life history and morphology, varied reproduction (self-pollination to outcrossing) and ease to work with in experimental settings.[14] They have currently sequenced the full genome for Erythranthe douglasii with 100bp paired-end at 40X coverage.[15]

Because of its affinity for serpentine soils, studying D. douglasii presents an opportunity to better understand adaptive traits in extreme environmental conditions. Researchers have found that distinct populations of D. douglasii appear to have different environmental response thresholds for when they begin producing more cleistogamous versus open flowers. This means that different populations have varying rates of inbreeding, resource use, and ability to survive hot and dry conditions.[15] Understanding this mechanism could give scientists insight into how plants adapt to climatic shifts of warmer and drier conditions.

Synonyms
  • Mimulus cleistogamus
  • Eunanus douglasii
  • Eunanus subuniflorus
  • Mimulus atropurpureus
  • Mimulus nanus var. subuniflorus
  • Mimulus subuniflorus

References
  1. David M. Thompson 2014. Mimulus douglasii, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_IJM.pl?tid=33591, accessed on June 08, 2015.
  2. Isley, Duane. (1994) One hundred and one botanists. Ames, IA: Iowa State University Press.
  3. Barker, W. L. (Bill); et al. (2012). "A Taxonomic Conspectus of Phyrmaceae: A Narrowed Circumscription for MIMULUS, New and Resurrected Genera, and New Names and Combinations" (PDF). Phytoneuron. 39: 1–60. ISSN 2153-733X.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. Baldwin, B.G. and Goldman, D.H. (2012). The Jepson Manual: Vascular Plants of California, 2nd Edition. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press
  8. David M. Thompson 2014. Mimulus, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_IJM.pl?tid=11384, accessed on June 08, 2015.
  9. Kruckeberg, A.R. 1984. California Serpentines: Flora, Vegetation, Geology, Soils, and Management Problems. Volume 78 of UC Publications in Botany Series.University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, California. Google Books. Web. 28 May 2015. https://books.google.com
  10. USDA Plants, http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=MIDO2, accessed on June 08, 2015.
  11. Calflora: Information on California plants for education, research and conservation, with data contributed by public and private institutions and individuals, including the Consortium of California Herbaria. [web application]. 2015. Berkeley, California: The Calflora Database [a non-profit organization]. Available: http://www.calflora.org/ Archived 2018-11-17 at the Wayback Machine (Accessed: Jun 08, 2015).
  12. Rajakaruna, N. & Boyd, R.S. 2014. Serpentine Soils. Oxford University Press. DOI: 10.1093/OBO/9780199830060-0055, accessed on June 08, 2015
  13. California Native Plant Link Exchange. http://www.cnplx.info/nplx/nplx?page=coincident&taxon=Mimulus+douglasii&available=t&action=t#results, accessed on June 08, 2015.
  14. The Willis Lab, Duke University. Durham, NC http://sites.biology.duke.edu/willislab/research.htm Archived 2015-06-03 at the Wayback Machine, accessed on June 08, 2015.
  15. https://mimulus2014.wordpress.com/participants/
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