Wildflower (forb) · Scrophulariaceae
Sharpwing monkeyflower
Mimulus alatus
Sharpwing monkeyflower is recorded as native to 29 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 867 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Sharpwing monkeyflower at a glance
- Native in
- 867 counties, across 29 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 5a PLANTS minimum temperature −23°F
- Mature height
- 2.3 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade High water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 5a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −23°F; zone 5a winters bottom out at −20°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Sharpwing monkeyflower is recorded as native to 29 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 867 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 867 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 17 counties
- Arkansas 53 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 2 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 6 counties
- Georgia 10 counties
- Illinois 75 counties
- Indiana 58 counties
- Iowa 1 county
- Kansas 22 counties
- Kentucky 74 counties
- Louisiana 55 counties
- Massachusetts 2 counties
- Michigan 1 county
- Mississippi 41 counties
- Missouri 100 counties
- Nebraska 6 counties
- New Jersey 18 counties
- New York 12 counties
- North Carolina 33 counties
- Ohio 62 counties
- Oklahoma 10 counties
- Pennsylvania 31 counties
- South Carolina 20 counties
- Tennessee 61 counties
- Texas 21 counties
- Virginia 59 counties
- West Virginia 16 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 2.3 ft
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Single Stem
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Short
- Active growth period
- Spring
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- High water use
- Drought tolerance
- None
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- High
- Precipitation range
- 24 to 60 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium and fine
- pH range
- 6.2 to 7.8
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 2 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −23°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 5a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 150
- Fire tolerance
- None
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Blue
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Summer
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Black
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Scrophulariaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- MIAL2
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Mimulus alatus (PLANTS symbol MIAL2).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources