Plant of the day: sticky monkey flower

Have you seen those pale orange flowered bushes that are common in the hills of Marin? Yes, the ones with the dark green and the tubular flowers with a flaring rim like a musical instrument. This is Mimulus aurantiacus (aka bush monkey flower or sticky monkey flower). You won’t find it in the Peterson guide, since it’s technically a bush not a wildflower – but the blooms are pretty and if you pick it for a bouquet you’ll learn where it got its name from when your hands come away sticky. It likes to grow in brushy areas and chaparral, flat places and narrow steep ravines.