Creeping Monkey Grass Gardens in Chinese Monkey Year Theme Gardening

Summary: Monkey flowers and trees get creeping monkey grass gardens for edging, groundcover, ornamental and understory help in Chinese monkey year theme gardening.

Southern Living shares that Liriope is the South's favorite ground cover and that Liriope spicata is a perfect cover for large beds and slopes; creeping monkey grass (Liriope spicata) in Kihei, southwestern Maui; Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2007, 14:07:31; image #070123-3678: Forest and Kim Starr, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Americanized creeping monkey grass gardens accompany candelabra and monkey puzzle trees, clumping monkey grass and sharpwing and square-stemmed monkey flowers into Americanized Chinese monkey year theme gardening, Jan. 27, 2016-Feb. 8, 2017.

The evergreen perennial bears the common names creeping lilyturf and creeping monkey grass to bring up its clumping monkey grass relative, lily-like looks and turf-like functions. It carries the scientific name Liriope spicata for the naiad guardian of springs and the nymph mother of Narcissus and for its clustered flowers' spiky shapes. The asparagus relative in the Asparagaceae family demands temperatures above minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 34.4 degrees Celsius) inside and outside its native China and Vietnam.

The humidity-, light-, moisture-, soil-, temperature- and weather-tolerant non-native expects moist, organic matter-rich, semi-shaded, well-drained soils in United States Department of Agriculture zones 4 to 10.

The grasslike flowering plant flourishes natively as East Asian understory vegetation in forests and on grassy slopes up to 5,900 feet (1,798.32 meters) above sea level. It grows as edging along borders and walkways, as groundcover along water bodies and on slopes and as ornamentals in gardens in the southeastern United States. It has a mature growth habit of 0.75 to 1.5 feet (22.86 to 45.72 centimeters) long by 1 to 2 feet (30.48 to 60.96 centimeters) wide. Its arching, clustered, grasslike, narrow foliage is brown in winter, dark glossy green spring through fall, mowable at high settings and one-quarter inch (0.64 centimeter) wide.

Lavender to white flowers join evergreen foliage during August to September bloom times in creeping monkey grass gardens for Americanized Chinese monkey year theme gardening plans.

The deer- and rabbit-resistant, pollution-tolerant relative of Chinese, Japanese and Korean clumping monkey grass keeps its delicate, tiny flowers inconspicuously within, not above, late summer foliage.

Summer bloom times lead into fall and winter fruiting and seeding times and into next year's early spring sowing times for each blackish berry's single seed. Human-managed division of root masses with frequent tubers and natural rooting of horizontal, prominent, underground stems called rhizomes make up creeping monkey grass's main reproduction means. The spring and the summer months nurture the adventitious rooting of baby creeping monkey grass plants from the parent rhizome's nodes whereas division needs winter dormancy.

Creeping monkey grass, described by João de Loureiro (Sept. 8, 1717-Oct. 18, 1791), offers Americanized Chinese monkey year theme gardening sustainable populations because of opportunistic rhizomes.

Americanized creeping monkey grass gardens prove problematic when their rhizomes perform aggressively, such as by poking adventitiously rooted shoots through cracks in concrete blocks and pavement. They qualify as unproblematic when creeping monkey grass, described by Swedish naturalist Carl Peter Thunberg (Nov. 11, 1743-Aug. 8, 1828), quickens naturally phytoremediating air purification processes. Creeping monkey grass reveals phytoremediating properties, as a plant for restoring ecosystem balance, by removing ammonia, formaldehyde, toluene and xylene from contaminated atmospheres and polluted environments. The anthracnose fungus that streaks clumping monkey grass red and the scale insect that spots it red typically stay well away from survivalist creeping monkey grass.

Creeping monkey grass gardens transform intolerable sites into tolerable homelands for monkey year theme gardening with American monkey flowers and Americanized monkey grasses and monkey trees.

creeping monkey grass (Liriope spicata) in Calgary Zoo's ENMAX Conservatory; Calgary, southwestern Albert, western Canada; Wednesday, Sep. 12, 2012, 10:14:10: Wendy Cutler, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Southern Living shares that Liriope is the South's favorite ground cover and that Liriope spicata is a perfect cover for large beds and slopes; creeping monkey grass (Liriope spicata) in Kihei, southwestern Maui; Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2007, 14:07:31; image #070123-3678: Forest and Kim Starr (Starr Environmental), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/starr-environmental/24584688610/;
Forest & Kim Starr, CC BY 4.0 International, via Starr Environmental @ http://www.starrenvironmental.com/images/image/?q=24584688610

creeping monkey grass (Liriope spicata) in Calgary Zoo's ENMAX Conservatory; Calgary, southwestern Albert, western Canada; Wednesday, Sep. 12, 2012, 10:14:10: Wendy Cutler, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/wlcutler/8008434844/

For further information:

Gilman, Edward F. October 1999. Reviewed February 2014. "Liriope spicata Creeping Lilyturf." University of Florida > Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences > Electronic Data Information Source > FPS Publication 350.
Available @ http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fp350

"Liriope spicata." Missouri Botanical Garden > Gardens & Gardening > Your Garden > Plant Finder.
Available @ http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=a620

"Liriope spicata (Thunb.) Lour. Creeping Liriope." United States Department of Agriculture > Natural Resources Conservation Service > Plant Profile.
Available @ https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=LISP10

Loureiro, João de. 1790. "Liriope spicata." Flora Cochinchinensis, Tomus 1: 201.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/653400

Lynn, Audrey. "What Is the Difference between Liriope muscari and Liriope spicata?" SFGate > Home Guides > Garden > Gardening > Garden Ideas.
Available @ http://homeguides.sfgate.com/difference-between-liriope-muscari-liriope-spicata-42534.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 16 January 2016. "Clumping Monkey Grass Gardens in Chinese Monkey Year Theme Gardening." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/01/clumping-monkey-grass-gardens-in.html

Owings, Allen. January 2012. "Getting the Most From Your Liriope Ground Cover." State-by-State Gardening > Midwest Edition > Newsletter Stories.
Available @ http://statebystategardening.com/state.php/il/newsletter-stories/getting_the_most_from_your_liriope_ground_cover/

Reed, Rebecca Bull. March 2006. "Smart Choices With Monkey Grass." Southern Living > Home - Garden > Gardens.
Available @ http://www.southernliving.com/home-garden/gardens/smart-choices-monkey-grass

Russ, Karen; and Russ Polomski. Revised by Joey Williamson. "Liriope." Clemson University > Cooperative Extension > Home and Garden Information Center > Landscape, Garden & Indoor Plants > Landscape Plants & Lawns > Groundcovers & Vines > HGIC 1108.
Available @ http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/plants/landscape/groundcovers/hgic1108.html

Clumping Monkey Grass Gardens in Chinese Monkey Year Theme Gardening

Summary: Americanized Chinese monkey year theme gardening gives clumping monkey grass gardens edging, groundcover and understory roles to monkey flowers and trees.

Southern Living identifies liriopes as the South's favorite ground cover and Liriope muscari as the most popular; clumping monkey grass (Liriope muscari) 'Pee Dee Gold Ingot' in Cherry Grove, Suffolk County, Fire Island, southeastern New York; Friday, Sep. 7, 2012, 15:50:14: cultivar413, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Americanized clumping monkey grass gardens attract attention to Americanized Chinese monkey year theme gardening plans for Jan. 27, 2016, to Feb. 8, 2017, by their common name and by their Oriental origins. They bear the common names big blue lilyturf, monkey grass and spider grass by comparison with related creeping monkey grass and by arachnid- and banana-like growth. The scientific name Liriope muscari convokes self-destructive Narcissus's mother, whose name concerns flowing springs, and grape hyacinth-like musk-flowers of the asparagus relative in the Asparagaceae family. The non-native perennial does well down to minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 23.3 degrees Celsius) in United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) zones 6 to 10.

The flowering grasslike evergreen expects moist, organic matter-rich, semi-shaded, well-drained soils even though the east Asian native endures humidity, light, moisture, soil, temperature and weather extremes.

Clumping monkey grass functions as an understory plant in shady forests at 330- to 4,600-foot (110.58- to 1,402.08-meter) altitudes in its native China, Japan and Korea. It grows as edging along paths, as foliage in container, rock or woodland gardens and as groundcover on erosion-prone, runoff-riddled slopes in the southeastern United States. The deer-resistant, tufted introduction has a mature habit of 1.0 to 1.5 feet (0.31 to 0.46 centimeter) by 0.75 to one foot (0.23 to 0.31 centimeter). The arching, clumping, one-half-inch- (1.27-centimeter-) wide, straplike foliage is brown in winter, dark glossy green from spring to fall and mowable before early spring's new growth.

Clumping monkey grass gardens jumble August- to September-blooming, blue-, lilac-, purple-, violet- and white-blooming, dainty, dense, showy, tiny flowers into Americanized Chinese monkey year theme gardening.

The clumping, taller relative of creeping monkey grass keeps its blackish berries into winter and its spikes of whorled flowers knowably above its longer, wider leaves.

Phenolic compounds lace fruit pulp and leave seed embryos underdeveloped and seed germination impossible since above-ground stolons and below-ground rhizomes let clumping monkey grass reproduce asexually. Fibrous roots with terminal tubers and horizontal, short stems called stolons and tubers respectively make new plants by human-guided division and by natural rooting at nodes. Division needs the dormant winter months before the next year's onset of early spring growth and always nurtures clumping monkey grass babies identical to their parents.

Americanized clumping monkey grass gardens offer onerous embryo maturation and seed production operations as alternative or overlapping reproduction options in Americanized Chinese monkey year theme gardening.

Warm stratification (horizontal layering) promotes embryo maturation and seed production that proves sowable indoors during winter dormancy or outdoors after the last frost or in mid-fall.

A second moist, warm stratification quickens indoor or outdoor-sheltered germination of phenolic compound-free seeds after eight weeks in darkness at 77 degrees Fahrenheit (25 degrees Celsius). Clumping monkey grass, described by Joseph Decaisne (March 7, 1807-Feb. 8, 1882) and Liberty Hyde Bailey (March 15, 1858-Dec. 25, 1954), result from all three means. Even cleaned-up, phenolic compound-free seeds never store well even though divided, rooted and seeded clumping monkey grass rarely suffers from environmental diseases, pathogens, pests or stress.

Clumping monkey grass gardens take on edging, groundcover and understory roles to candelabra trees, monkey flowers and monkey puzzle trees in Chinese monkey year theme gardening.

clumping monkey grass (Liriope muscari) in landscape with birches (Betula spp.) in Kew Gardens, southwest London, South East England; Sunday, Oct. 20, 2013, 13:31:44: Leonora (Ellie) Enking (wallygrom), CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Southern Living identifies liriopes as the South's favorite ground cover and Liriope muscari as the most popular; clumping monkey grass (Liriope muscari) 'Pee Dee Gold Ingot' in Cherry Grove, Suffolk County, Fire Island, southeastern New York; Friday, Sep. 7, 2012, 15:50:14: cultivar413, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/131880272@N06/21532687873/

clumping monkey grass (Liriope muscari) in landscape with birches (Betula spp.) in Kew Gardens, southwest London, South East England; Sunday, Oct. 20, 2013, 13:31:44: Leonora (Ellie) Enking (wallygrom), CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/33037982@N04/10447279706/

For further information:

Bailey, Liberty Hyde. 15 February 1929. "Liriope muscari." Gentes Herbarum 1929-1932, vol. II: 35-37.
Available via HathiTrust @ https://hdl.handle.net/2027/inu.30000046319319?urlappend=%3Bseq=45

"Liriope muscari." Missouri Botanical Garden > Gardens & Gardening > Your Garden > Plant Finder.
Available @ http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=l100

"Liriope muscari (Decne.) L.H. Bailey Big Blue Lilyturf." United States Department of Agriculture > Natural Resources Conservation Service > Plant Profile.
Available @ https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=Limu6

Lynn, Audrey. "What Is the Difference between Lirope muscari and Liriope spicata?" SFGate > Home Guides > Garden > Gardening > Garden Ideas.
Available @ http://homeguides.sfgate.com/difference-between-liriope-muscari-liriope-spicata-42534.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 10 January 2016. "Square-Stemmed Monkey Flower Gardens for Monkey Year Theme Gardening." Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/01/square-stemmed-monkey-flower-gardens.html

Owings, Allen. January 2012. "Getting the Most From Your Liriope Ground Cover." State-by-State Gardening > Midwest Edition > Newsletter Stories.
Available @ http://statebystategardening.com/state.php/il/newsletter-stories/getting_the_most_from_your_liriope_ground_cover/

Reed, Rebecca Bull. March 2006. "Smart Choices With Monkey Grass." Southern Living > Home - Garden > Gardens.
Available @ http://www.southernliving.com/home-garden/gardens/smart-choices-monkey-grass

Russ, Karen; and Russ Polomski. Revised by Joey Williamson. "Lirope." Clemson University > Cooperative Extension > Home and Garden Information Center > Landscape, Garden & Indoor Plants > Landscape Plants & Lawns > Groundcovers & Vines > HGIC 1108.
Available @ http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/plants/landscape/groundcovers/hgic1108.html

Square-Stemmed Monkey Flower Gardens for Monkey Year Theme Gardening

Summary: North American square-stemmed monkey flower gardens in Canada and in the United States celebrate Americanized Chinese monkey year theme gardening.

square-stemmed monkey flowers (Mimulus ringens), a North American native perennial, along banks of Missouri River, Cascade County, west central Montana; Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2007, 09:47: Matt Lavin from Bozeman, Montana, CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons

North American square-stemmed monkey flower gardens add simian appearances, through their monkey face-like floral lips, that align with Americanized Chinese monkey year theme gardening from Feb. 8, 2016, to Jan. 27, 2017.

The native perennial bears the common names Allegheny or square-stemmed monkey flower and the scientific name Mimulus ringens (small mime, gaping) for occurrence, structure and resemblance. All but Arizona, Florida, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming in the United States and British Columbia in southern Canada consider square-stemmed monkey flowers native flora.

The Phrymaceae plant family member of lopseed relatives decorates bogs, coastal and inland shorelines, ditches, lakes, marshes, meadows, ponds, rivers, shorelines, springs, streams, swamps and woodlands. It endures minimally acidic, to neutral or to slightly alkaline soil pH (power of hydrogen) ranges in loamy, moist to wet, organic matter-rich, partly shaded wetlands.

Creeping, horizontal, underground stems called rhizomes and vertical taproots favor soil temperatures between minus 45 and 10 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 42.77 to minus 12.22 degrees Celsius).

Mature, 1- to 3-foot- (30.48- to 91.44-meter-) high, 0.75- to 1.0-foot- (22.86- to 30.48-centimeter-) wide square-stemmed monkey flowers grow on four-angled, hollow, smooth, square, straight stems. Their rigidly upright stems harbor no noticeable wings at any stem angles, oftentimes house yellow-green streaks in bright sunlight and dried-out soils and sometimes hustle branches. Hairless, scentless stems include bilaterally symmetrical, bisexual, hairy, scentless, short-stalked flowers at upper leaf angles with stems and hairless, oppositely arranged, sharply toothed, unscented, well-stalked leaves.

Square-stemmed monkey flower gardens jumble sessile (stalkless, unpedunculated), 2- to 4-inch- (5.08- to 10.16-centimeter-) long, 2-inch- (5.08-centimeter-) wide leaves for Americanized Chinese monkey year theme gardening.

June- to September-blooming flowers keep near bright green, lance- to oblong-shaped, sharp-pointed, sharp-tipped, stem-clasping foliage in United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) zones 3 to 8. The blue, pink, red-purple, 1-inch (2.54-centimeter), snapdragon-like flowers lavish tubular, 0.39- to 0.63-inch (10- to 16-millimeter) calyxes and yellow, 0.79- to 1.18-inch (20- to 30-millimeter) throats. The 0.79- to 1.38-inch (20- to 35-millimeter) pedicels, contrary to those of sharpwing monkey flowers, measure more than the 0.39- to 0.63-inch (10- to 16-millimeter) calyxes. White-haired corollas need three outward-spreading, rounded, 0.08- to 0.24-inch (2- to 6-millimeter) lobes on their upper lips and two backward-spreading, same-sized lobes on their lower lips.

Americanized Chinese monkey year theme gardening plans obtain pollen-bearing male and seed-bearing female reproductive parts from all summer-blooming flowers in North American square-stemmed monkey flower gardens.

Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) prevents Baltimore (Euphydryas phaeton) and common buckeye (Junonia coenia) caterpillars from preying upon the larval stage's preferred host plants, square-stemmed monkey flowers. It queues up in overlapping wetland habitat niches so that square-stemmed monkey flowers, described by Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus (May 23, 1707-Jan. 10, 1778), quit reproducing. Square-stemmed monkey flowers reproduce by dark seeds released from explosive, 0.39- to 0.52-inch (10- to 13-millimeter) capsules. They survive at altitudes up to 984.25 feet (300 meters) above sea level and sustain intense competition over space with agro-industrial, business, residential and road developments.

Candelabra tree, monkey grass, monkey puzzle tree, sharpwing monkey flower and square-stemmed monkey flower gardens take care of each other for Chinese monkey year theme gardening.

square-stemmed monkey flowers (Mimulus ringens) in C & O Canal Park, Montgomery County, central Maryland; Monday, June 25, 2012, 14:56:26: Fritz Flohr Reynolds (fritzflohrreynolds), CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

square-stemmed monkey flowers (Mimulus ringens), a North American native perennial, along banks of Missouri River, Cascade County, west central Montana; Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2007, 09:47: Matt Lavin from Bozeman, Montana, CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mimulus_ringens_(5156292183).jpg;
Matt Lavin (Matt Lavin), CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/plant_diversity/5156292183/

square-stemmed monkey flowers (Mimulus ringens) in C & O Canal Park, Montgomery County, central Maryland; Monday, June 25, 2012, 14:56:26: Fritz Flohr Reynolds (fritzflohrreynolds), CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/fritzflohrreynolds/7665695148/

For further information:

Linnaeus, Carl von. 1 May 1753. "Mimulus ringens." Species Plantarum, Tomus II: 634. Holmiae [Stockholm, Sweden]: Laurentii Salvii (Laurentius Salvius).
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/358655
Available via Missouri Botanical Garden Library's Botanicus Digital Library @ http://www.botanicus.org/page/358655

Marriner, Derdriu. 9 January 2016. "Sharpwing Monkey Flower Gardens in Chinese Monkey Year Theme Gardening." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/01/sharpwing-monkey-flower-gardens-in.html

"Mimulus ringens." Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center > Plant Database.
Available @ http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=MIRI

"Mimulus ringens." Missouri Botanical Garden > Gardens & Gardening > Our Garden > Plant Finder.
Available @ http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=z410

"Mimulus ringens L." Tropicos® > Name Search.
Available @ http://www.tropicos.org/Name/29200088

"Mimulus ringens L. Allegheny Monkeyflower." United States Department of Agriculture > Natural Resources Conservation Service > Plant Profile.
Available @ https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=miri

Tenaglia, Dan. "Mimulus ringens L." Missouri Plants.
Available @ http://www.missouriplants.com/Blueopp/Mimulus_ringens_page.html

Weakley, Alan S.; J. Christopher Ludwig; and John F. Townsend. 2012. Flora of Virginia. Edited by Bland Crowder. Fort Worth TX: BRIT Press, Botanical Research Institute of Texas.

Sharpwing Monkey Flower Gardens in Chinese Monkey Year Theme Gardening

Summary: North American sharpwing monkey flower gardens in eastern Canada and in the eastern United States toast Americanized Chinese monkey year theme gardening.

sharpwing monkey flower (Mimulus alatus), a native North American perennial, growing wild in Claude Moore Colonial Farm Park at Turkey Run Farm, near Potomac River in Fairfax County, northern Virginia; July 22, 2013: Fritz Flohr Reynolds (fritzflohrreynolds), CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

North American sharpwing monkey flower gardens advertise simian allusions in monkey face-like floral lips, in accordance with Americanized Chinese monkey year theme gardening plans from Feb. 8, 2016, to Jan. 27, 2017.

The native perennial bears the common name sharpwing monkey flower and the scientific name Mimulus alatus (small mime, winged) because of winged stems and monkey-like corollas. The province of Ontario in eastern Canada and 29 states, along with the District of Columbia, in the eastern United States consider sharpwing monkey flowers natives.

The lopseed relative in the Phrymaceae family demands distribution ranges in wetland edges to banks, bogs, ditches, marshes, meadows, ponds, rivers, springs, streams, swamps and woodlands. It expects neutral to slightly acidic soil pH (power of hydrogen) ranges of 5.6 to 7.5 in occasionally flooded, organic matter-rich, partly shaded to sunlit wetlands.

Horizontal, stem-like, underground rhizomes and taproots find air and moisture pore spaces, macronutrients and micronutrients in temperatures below minus 23 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 5 degrees Celsius).

Sharpwing monkey flowers generate mature 1- to 3-foot (0.31- to 0.91-meter) by 0.75- to 1.5-foot (0.23- to 0.46-meter) habits on four-angled, hollow, smooth, square, straight stems. Their straight up-and-down stems always have thin wings at the stem angles, oftentimes hint of yellow-green in bright sunlight and dried-out soils and sometimes hold branches. The hairless, scentless stems include bilaterally symmetrical, bisexual, hairy, short-stalked, unscented flowers at leaf axil angles with stems and hairless, oppositely arranged, toothed, unscented, well-stalked leaves.

Sharpwing monkey flower gardens juggle 2- to 4-inch (5.08- to 10.16-centimeter) by 2-inch (5.08-centimeter) leaves with narrow-winged, 1.2-inch (3.05-centimeter) petioles for Americanized Chinese monkey year theme gardening.

June- to September-blooming flowers keep near dentate to serrate, lance-shaped to oval, sharp-pointed, sharp-tipped foliage in United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) zones 5 to 8. They look like blue, pink or violet 0.99-inch- (2.5-centimeter-) long, yellow-bearded snapdragons with five-pointed, five-toothed, tubular, 0.67-inch (1.7-centimeter) calyxes, white-banded yellow throats and 0.19-inch- (5-millimeter) pedicels. White-haired, 0.59-inch- (1.5-centimeter-) long corollas maintain a lower lip with three outward-spreading, rounded lobes and an upper lip with two lobes spreading backward to the side. They nudge two long and two short stamens with brown, 0.04- to 0.12-inch (1- to 3-millimeter) anthers and 0.24- to 0.28-inch (6- to 7-millimeter) white filaments.

North American sharpwing monkey flower gardens offer Americanized Chinese monkey year theme gardening one-stop pollination with pollen-bearing male and seed-bearing female reproductive parts on every flower.

Foliage and nectar pull Elaphria chalcedonia midget moth caterpillars and bumblebees (Bombus pensylvanicus) to sharpwing monkey flowers, described by Scottish botanist William Aiton (1731-Feb. 2, 1793).

Birds and insects quicken seed development and dispersal near monkey flowers' hairless, white, 0.28-inch (7-millimeter) styles, light green, oval-shaped, 0.24-inch (6-millimeter) ovary and two flattened stigmas. Bee-, bird-, butterfly- and caterpillar-friendly, deer-resistant, low-maintenance sharpwing monkey flowers reproduce by the germination of viable black seeds released from their explosive, 0.39-inch- (1-centimeter-) long capsules. They support feeding chains and food webs by serving nectar and pollen and sustain wetlands by stopping soil erosion and surface runoff and by supplying groundcover.

American sharpwing monkey flower gardens team up with candelabra and monkey puzzle trees, monkey grasses and square-stemmed monkey flowers in Americanized Chinese monkey year theme gardening.

sharpwing monkey flower (Mimulus alatus) in Boyle Park, Little Rock, Pulaski County, central Arkansas; July 16, 2012: Eric in SF, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

sharpwing monkey flower (Mimulus alatus) growing wild in Claude Moore Colonial Farm Park at Turkey Run Farm, near Potomac River in Fairfax County, northern Virginia; July 22, 2013: Fritz Flohr Reynolds (fritzflohrreynolds), CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mimulus_alatus_-_Winged_Monkeyflower_2.jpg

sharpwing monkey flower (Mimulus alatus) in Boyle Park, Little Rock, Pulaski County, central Arkansas; July 16, 2012: Eric in SF, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mimulus_alatus_2.jpg

For further information:

Aiton, William. 1789. "Mimulus alatus." Hortus Kewensis; Or, A Catalogue of the Plants Cultivated in the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew. Vol. II Octandria-Monadelphia: pages 361-362. London UK: George Nicol, M.DCC.LXXXIX.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/4864779
Available via Missouri Botanical Garden Library's Botanicus Digital Library @ http://www.botanicus.org/page/875545

Marriner, Derdriu. 2 January 2016. "Chinese Monkey Year Theme Gardening With Monkey Puzzle Tree Gardens." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/01/chinese-monkey-year-theme-gardening.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 3 January 2016. "Chinese Monkey Year Theme Gardening With Candelabra Tree Gardens." Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/01/chinese-monkey-year-theme-gardening_3.html

"Mimulus alatus." Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center > Plant Database.
Available @ http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=MIAL2

"Mimulus alatus Aiton." Tropicos® > Name Search.
Available @ http://www.tropicos.org/Name/29201065

"Mimulus alatus Aiton Sharpwing Monkeyflower." United States Department of Agriculture > Natural Resources Conservation Service > Plant Profile.
Available @ https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=MIAL2

Tenaglia, Dan. "Mimulus alatus Ait." Missouri Plants.
Available @ http://www.missouriplants.com/Blueopp/Mimulus_alatus_page.html

Chinese Monkey Year Theme Gardening With Candelabra Tree Gardens

Summary: Americanized Chinese monkey year theme gardening respects cultural diversity and environmental sustainability with American candelabra tree gardens.

Candelabra tree (Araucaria angustifolia), also known as Paraná pine or Brazilian pine, is a critically endangered conifer; pinheiros do paraná at sunrise, Parque Nacional da Serra da Bocaina, border of states of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, Brasil; Saturday, July 28, 2012, 07:07: Heris Luiz Cordeiro Rocha, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

American candelabra tree gardens, American monkey flower gardens and American monkey puzzle tree gardens appear along with Asian monkey grass gardens as year-round attractions within Americanized Chinese monkey year theme gardening plans.

Candelabra trees bear the additional common names Brazilian pine and Paraná pine as native evergreens of six southern Brazilian states and as state symbol for Paraná. They carry the scientific name Araucaria angustifolia (narrow-leaved Araucanian) as icons of South America's ancient Araucanian peoples and relatives of wide-leaved monkey puzzle trees (Araucaria araucana). Their candleholder-like, dome-shaped crowns of upward-pointing branch tips atop long, straight trunks do not defer to the monkey tail-like descriptions of their monkey puzzle tree relatives.

Candelabra trees endure abundant rainfall, light shade, occasional frosts at 23 to minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 5 to minus 20 degrees Celsius) and subtropical climates.

Candelabra trees naturally favor slightly acidic, sunny, well-drained soils at 1,600- to 5,900-foot (487.68- to 1,798.32-meter) altitudes above sea level in Argentina, Paraguay and southern Brazil.

North American coasts and microclimates generate light, moisture, nutrient and temperature levels that Alto Paraguay, Corrientes and Misiones in Argentina and southern Brazil give candelabra trees. Southern Brazil's sustainable specimens in Minas Gerais, Paraná, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and São Paulo have 140- to 250-year life expectancies. Mature diameters at breast height and mature heights include respective ranges of 3.25 feet (0.99 meter) and of 130 to 160 feet (39.62 to 48.77 meters).

Americanized Chinese monkey year theme gardening plans jumble monkey puzzle tree's brown inner bark and white resin with reddish bark and resin from candelabra tree gardens.

Symmetrical, thick branches keep dark green, 1.2- to 2.5-inch- (3.05- to 6.35-centimeter-) long by 0.2- to 0.4-inch- (5.08- to 10.16-millimeter-) broad-based, scale-like, thick, tough, triangular needles.

Generations of sharp-pointed, sharp-tipped needles leave all but the critically endangered species' oldest branches and straight trunks light-, moisture-, temperature-controlled for successive 10- to 15-year stretches. They maintain 2.4- to 7-inch- (6.09- to 17.78-centimeter-) long by 0.6- to 1.0-inch- (15.24- to 25.4-millimeter-) broad pollen cones on male trees in candelabra tree gardens. Female trees aged 12 years old and up nurture mature seed cones 7 to 10 inches (17.78- to 25.4-millimeters) in diameter within 18 to 36 months.

Wind pollination of female and male trees offers Americanized Chinese monkey year theme gardening 100 to 150 narrow-winged, 2-inch (5.08-centimeter) seeds from every brown, globe-like cone.

Candelabra trees, described by botanists Antonio Bertoloni (Feb. 8, 1775-April 17, 1869) and Carl Ernst Otto Kuntze (June 23, 1843-Jan. 27, 1907), produce edible, six-week viable seeds.

Azure jays (Cyanocorax caeruleus) qualify as primary wildlife dispersers of air- and animal-dispensed seeds whose germination quickens within three months of quitting their dispersers' digestive tracts. Research reveals farming, logging and seed-collecting as reducing 9,000-square-mile (23,309.98-square-kilometer) original distribution ranges by 97 percent and removing 7,500,000 pounds (3,401.94 tonnes) of seeds each year. Seeds, known as pinhões (pine nuts), serve as boiled, roasted, saltwater-cooked treats with mulled wine at Santa Catarina's yearly fair in Lagos and as popular snacks.

Cultivated, naturalized North American and native, wild South American candelabra tree gardens transform Americanized Chinese monkey year theme gardening plans into culturally diverse, environmentally sustainable tributes.

Candelabra tree (Araucaria angustifolia) seeds are dispersed by azure jays (Cyanocorax caeruleus) and consumed by birds, humans and mammals; female cone with seeds of Paraná pine (pinheiro do Paraná); female cone with seeds of Paraná pine (pinheiro do Paraná); Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2009, 06:10: Deyvid Setti and Eloy Olindo Setti, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Candelabra tree (Araucaria angustifolia), also known as Paraná pine or Brazilian pine, is a critically endangered conifer; pinheiros do paraná at sunrise, Parque Nacional da Serra da Bocaina, border of states of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, Brasil; Saturday, July 28, 2012, 07:07: Heris Luiz Cordeiro Rocha, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Araucárias_ao_fundo_Parque_Nacional_da_Serra_da_Bocaina_-_denoise.jpg

Candelabra tree (Araucaria angustifolia) seeds are dispersed by azure jays (Cyanocorax caeruleus) and consumed by birds, humans and mammals; female cone with seeds of Paraná pine (pinheiro do Paraná); Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2009, 06:10: Deyvid Setti and Eloy Olindo Setti, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Estr%C3%B3bilo_feminino_do_pinheiro-do-paran%C3%A1.JPG

For further information:

"Araucaria angustifolia (Bertol.) Kuntze." Tropicos® > Name Search.
Available @ http://www.tropicos.org/Name/2300003

Earle, Christopher J. 2017. "Araucaria angustifolia." The Gymnosperm Database.
Available @ http://www.conifers.org/ar/Araucaria_angustifolia.php

Knox, Gary W. "Paraná Pine, Araucaria angustifolia: An Ancient-Looking Conifer for Modern Landscapes." Electronic Data Information Source > University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension > Environmental Horticulture Department > Document ENH1248.
Available @ http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ep509

Kuntze, Otto. 1898. "Araucaria angustifolia OK." Revisio Generum Plantarum, vol. 3, part 3: 375. Leipzig: Arthur Felix; London: Dulau & Co.; Melbourne: George Robertson & Co.; Milano: U. Hoepli; New York: Gust. E. Stechert; Paris: Charles Klinksieck.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/3593
Available via Missouri Botanical Garden Library's Botanicus Digital Library @ http://www.botanicus.org/page/3593

Marriner, Derdriu. 2 January 2016. "Chinese Monkey Year Theme Gardening With Monkey Puzzle Tree Gardens." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/01/chinese-monkey-year-theme-gardening.html

"Paraná Pine (Araucaria angustifolia)." Arkive > Species > Plants and Algae.
Available @ http://www.arkive.org/parana-pine/araucaria-angustifolia/

"Paraná Pine Araucaria angustifolia." Global Trees Campaign > Threatened Trees.
Available @ http://globaltrees.org/threatened-trees/trees/parana-pine/

Thomas, P. 2013. "Araucaria angustifolia." The IUCN Red List of Endangered Species 2013: e.T32975A2829141. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T32975A2829141.en.
Available @ http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/32975/0

Chinese Monkey Year Theme Gardening With Monkey Puzzle Tree Gardens

Summary: Americanized Chinese monkey year theme gardening respects cultural diversity and environmental sustainability with American puzzle tree gardens.

Andean population (población andina) of monkey puzzle trees (Araucaria araucana), also known as pehuén or pino chileno; Parque Nacional Conguillío, Región de La Araucanía, south central Chile; New Year's Eve, Friday, Dec. 31, 2010, 15:33:26: lautaroj, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons

January acts as the last month to advance Americanized Chinese monkey year theme gardening plans, with American monkey puzzle tree gardens at the forefront, for Feb. 8, 2016, to Jan. 27, 2017.

Monkey puzzle trees bear the scientific name Araucaria araucana, from the woody plant's seeds and wood benefiting the Araucanian culture in ancient South America's central Chile. The common names monkey puzzle tree and monkey tail tree come from Charles Austin's (1799-Dec. 21, 1874) comment, "It would puzzle a monkey to climb that." The common names Chilean pine and pehuén defer to the evergreen's native distribution throughout central and southern Chile and its original designation within the pine genus.

Chile's national tree, endangered since 2013, endures native or naturalization-friendly, rainfall-prone, temperate climates with cool summers and temperatures above 4 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 15.55 degrees Celsius).

Monkey puzzle trees favor slightly acidic, well-drained soils like their native Argentinian and Chilean south-central Andes Mountains' volcanic slopes 3,300-plus feet (1,005.84-plus meters) above sea level.

Coastal North American and inland microclimates generate the lightly shaded, moisture-laden, sunny microclimates that central and southern Chile and western Argentina give native monkey puzzle trees. The pollution-intolerant, salt-tolerant conifers, described by Juan Ignacio Molina (June 24, 1809-May 25, 1879) in 1782, have 1,000-plus-year life expectancies, straight trunks and symmetrical, thick branches. Broadly conical, pyramidal habits identify juveniles whereas maturity invokes 100- to 130-foot (30.48- to 39.62-meter) heights, 3- to 5-foot (0.91- to 1.52-meter) diameters and umbrella-like silhouettes.

Cultivated North American and wild South American monkey puzzle tree gardens jumble monkey tail-like woody canopies and trunks into American Chinese monkey year theme gardening plans.

Monkey puzzle trees, known to Karl Heinrich Emil Koch (June 6, 1809-May 25, 1879) by 1873, keep distinctive brown inner bark, white resin and wide needles.

Dark green, sharp-edged, sharp-tipped, tough 1.2- to 1.6-inch- (3.05- to 4.06-centimeter-) long needles look scale-like and triangular with 0.39- to 1.18-inch- (0.99- to 2.99-centimeter-) broad bases. Needles maintain air, light, moisture and temperature control for all but a tree's oldest branches and average lifespans of 24 years before merging with ground litter. Six trees with both cones or six with female cones and one with male nurture thousands of seeds yearly from age 30 to 40 years onward.

Wind pollination obtains 3.1- to 4.7-inch- (7.87- to 11.94-centimeter-) long by 2.0- to 2.4-inch- (5.08- to 6.09-centimeter-) broad pollen-filled cones from 1.6-inch- (4.06-centimeter-) long male cones.

American monkey puzzle tree gardens produce 200 seeds per globe-like female cones 4.7 to 7.9 inches (11.94 to 20.06 centimeters) in diameter 18 months after pollination.

Pine nut-like 1.2- to 1.6-inch- (3.05- to 4.06-centimeter-) long seeds quit their ground-strewn female seed cones in autumn as Americanized Chinese monkey year theme gardening edibles. Long-haired grass mice (Abrothrix longipilis) remove uneaten seeds from tree base litter to burial grounds whose depth results in sustainable seed germination in Argentina and Chile. New growth and old stands suffer decimation by cattle-grazing, invasive-planting, seed-collecting agroindustrialists and destruction during wildfires despite governmental protection since 1971 and logging bans since 1990.

Americanized Chinese monkey year theme gardening plans tackle continental, cultural and environmental diversity by treasuring native South American and naturalized North American monkey puzzle tree gardens.

Araucaria araucana's male cones in Parque Nacional Conguillío, Región de La Araucanía, south central Chile; Monday, Feb. 6, 2012, 22:51: Fugi-bis, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Andean population (población andina) of monkey puzzle trees (Araucaria araucana), also known as pehuén or pino chileno; Parque Nacional Conguillío, Región de La Araucanía, south central Chile; New Year's Eve, Friday, Dec. 31, 2010, 15:33:26: lautaroj, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Araucaria_araucana_-_Parque_Nacional_Conguillío_por_lautaroj_-_001.jpg;
lautaroj, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/54137452@N06/5340831393

Araucaria araucana's male cones in Parque Nacional Conguillío, Región de La Araucanía, south central Chile; Monday, Feb. 6, 2012, 22:51: Fugi-bis, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Piñas_masculinas_araucaria.JPG

For further information:

"Araucaria araucana." Missouri Botanical Garden > Gardens & Gardening > Your Garden > Plant Finder.
Available @ http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=276630&isprofile=0&

"Araucaria araucana (Molina) K. Koch." Plants of the World Online > Kew Science.
Available @ http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:261681-1

"Araucaria araucana (Molina) K. Koch." Tropicos® > Name Search.
Available @ http://www.tropicos.org/Name/2300010

Chilebosque. 2016. Ficha de descripción de Araucaria araucana.
Available @ http://www.chilebosque.cl/flora/araucaria_araucana.html

Koch, Karl. 1873. "1. A. araucana." Dendrologie, zweite theil, zweite abtheilung: 206-207.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/18206577

Molina, Giovanni Ignazio. 1782. Saggio Sulla Storia Naturale del Chili: 182-184. Bologna, Italia: Stamperia di S. Tommaso d'Aquino.
Available @ http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/41027977

"Monkey Puzzle Araucaria araucana." Global Trees Campaign > Threatened Trees.
Available @ http://globaltrees.org/threatened-trees/trees/monkey-puzzle/

"Monkey Puzzle (Araucaria araucana)." Arkive > Species > Plants and Algae.
Available @ http://www.arkive.org/monkey-puzzle/araucaria-araucana/

Premoli, A.; P. Quiroga; and M. Gardner. 2013. "Araucaria araucana (Monkey Puzzle)." The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013: e.T31355A2805113. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T31355A2805113.en.
Available @ http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/31355/0