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Mimulus ringens Scrophulariaceae (Figwort) Family  Monkey Flower is an upright, smooth perennial with a nearly square stem; two to three feet tall. Its preferred habitat is wet meadows, stream banks, swamps and damp ditches. Distriibution is throughout the Escambia region, except directly at seashore. The leaves are opposite on the stem; no leaf stalks (nearly clasping the stem); two to four inches long; egg-shaped to lance-like. Flowers are blue to purple; arising from the leaf axil; the upper petal is two-lobed and the lower petal is three-lobed; two palate-like yellow spots are seen inside the throat that extend upward closing the corolla tube; four stamens. The corolla throat is white. Flowers occur in the summer. The flower looks something like a monkey’s face, thus the common and species name. The Latin “mimulus” means to mimic (buffoon). The Latin adjective “ringens” describes the plant as: huge; resembling a large primate; remarkable. Fruit is a capsule. 
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