Some similarities to : Musk (Mimulus moschatus), but that has five regular petals, all of equal size and shape, whereas all of the other various types or hybrids of Monkeyflower have bi-symmetric flowers.

Lookee-Likees : You can tell it is a Monkeyflower, but may be unsure exactly which one out of the possible nine others.

Not to be confused with: Monkey-Puzzle Tree.

The flowers themselves have some resemblance, in both shape and internal markings, to : Indian Bean Tree (aka Southern Catalpa) (Catalpa bignonoides), Western Catalpa (Catalpa speciosa), Yellow Catalpa (Catalpa ovata) and Foxglove Tree (Paulownia tomentosa) but which are all trees.

No relation to : Monkey Orchid [a plant with similar name but of a differing family].

This is the most common variety of Monkeyflower to be found in the lowlands. Monkeyflower is fertile, with pollen on the anthers, but partially fertile or sterile hybrids of it including Hybrid Monkeyflower (Mimulus × robertsii) are otherwise indistinguishable from it. Book-written text is all very confusing, and in some cases contradictory!

[The author intensely dislikes books with keys which pretend to automate the identification process but in the end only roboticize it. Confusion and obfuscation are words that come to mind when using keyed ID processes. The author would much prefer a cross-grid type identification process, where a more diffuse consensus can emerge from erroneous or contradictory inputs, and a more appropriate average taken by eye with considered reasoning, taking into account other factors such as BSBI UK distribution. A diagrammatic approach is worth a thousand words. We are not Robots, we are Men; we are Devo!].

Monkeyflowers are complicated, with numerous hybrids abounding, for which details are listed under the entries for Coppery Monkeyflower and Hybrid Monkeyflower.

The common or garden bedding plant 'Monkeyflower' is actually a cross between Mimulus cupreus Mimulus smithii called Mimulus × hybridus, and which does not seem to require fresh running water nor to bathe in a wet place, unlike all other plants belonging to the Mimulus Genus. It is available from garden centres in not only yellow but a small spectrum of differing colours.

The bitter leaves of Monkeyflower have previously been used in salads, becoming more bitter with age.