The top photo is a southern bush monkey flower and the bottom photo is a coastal bush monkey flower. These are allegedly called monkey flowers because they look like grinning monkeys—which I confess I don’t really see. I guess my imagination isn’t good enough.

There appear to be (a) lots of kinds of monkey flowers and (b) lots of different names for each one. I think I got these identifications right, but it’s hard to say for sure. And other people might use other common names for them anyhow. The only thing I can say with real confidence is that they are monkey flowers, and almost certainly bush monkey flowers.

April 20, 2019 — Laguna Coast Wilderness Park, Orange County, California

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