Sticky Monkey Flower is a showy, drought-tolerant shrub with spreading branches, peach/orange colored flowers and dark, smooth, green leaves. Usually reaching heights of 3-4 feet, the woody shrub blooms from late winter into fall, and is found in California’s coastal scrub, chaparral and oak woodland plant communities. At home or in commercial landscape design, it needs water immediately after planting. Once established, it thrives in dry, well drained soil and full sun -- particularly near the coast.

True to its name, the leaves of monkey flower are "sticky". A resin on the underside of the leaves protects the plant from desiccation (drying out), and from hungry insects. In early spring, however, the plant is known to house the Chalcedon Checkerspot, a common butterfly that lays its eggs on the underside of the leaf so the larvae can feed on the leaf’s resin. Bees and hummingbirds also love this plant.

The leaves of Sticky Monkey Flower were commonly used by Native Americans to treat a variety of ailments. The Coast Miwok placed the crushed leaves on sores and burns, and the roots have been used to treat fever, dysentery, diarrhea and hemorrhages.