The Rarest Plant in Michigan is in Danger of Extinction

Michigan’srarestflowerisbackforabrieftime:theMichiganMonkeyflower. Monkeyflowerisararewildflowerthatisnationallyknownasanendangeredspecies,mainlyfoundinnorthernMichigan.It’sasemi-aquaticplant–partofthefigwortfamily–withlimiteduumbersintheuppermittenandsouthernUpperPeninsula. TheMonkeyflowerbloomsfromJunetoAugust,sometimeslastinguntilOctober.BestplacestofinditarearoundtheStraitsofMackinacandtheGrandTraverseareashorelines.Thisisnotayearlyoccurrence:themonkeyflowerwaslastseennearCharlevoixin2023,Traversein2022,andbeforethatwas2018inBenzieCounty.In2023,theUpperPeninsulawasgracedwithfoursightingsinMackinacCounty. Now,howwouldyourecognizeamonkeyflowerifyoucameuponone? AccordingtotheFreePress,themonkeyflowerhas“rounded,oppositeleaveswithcourseandtoothededges,andtubularflowerswithyellowpetalsandared-spottedlowerlip.”Likelyplacestofindthemareinsprings,streams,andshorelines. Whatcouldmakethemonkeyflowerbecomeextinct? Roadco