If you’ve ever hiked through California’s hillsides in spring, you’ve probably seen Diplacus aurantiacus—better known as the sticky monkey-flower. It’s that cheerful little shrub with orange blossoms that seem to glow in the sun. I love this plant because it pops up almost everywhere: dry slopes, rocky trails, sandy soil, even harsh serpentine ground where most plants give up.
Its flowers come in shades from white to deep red, but the soft orange ones are the classic look. Bees and hummingbirds are constant visitors, and the plant even helps support butterfly species like the common buckeye and the variable checkerspot.
People have been appreciating this plant long before modern gardeners took interest—Miwok and Pomo tribes traditionally used it to soothe minor aches and irritations. Today, gardeners prize it for being drought-tolerant and wildlife-friendly. It’s even earned a Royal Horticultural Society award in the UK.
如果你曾在春天散步穿越加州的山坡，你很可能見過粘猴花。這是一種令人愉快的小灌木，開著橙色的花朵，在陽光下閃閃發光。我喜歡這種植物，因為它幾乎無所不在：乾燥的山坡、崎嶇的山路、沙質土壤，甚至在大多數植物都難以生存的崎嶇蛇紋岩地帶。
它的花朵顏色從白色到深紅色不等，但柔和的橙色最為經典。蜜蜂和蜂鳥經常光顧，這種植物甚至能為一些蝴蝶物種提供棲息地。
早在現代園藝家欣赏這種植物之前，人們就對它感興趣了——美洲原住民米沃克族和波莫族傳統上用它來緩解輕微的疼痛和不適。如今，園藝家珍惜它，因為它耐旱且對野生動物友好。它甚至還獲得了英國皇家園藝學會的獎項。
Notes 筆記
- Diplacus aurantiacus, the sticky monkey-flower or orange bush monkey-flower, is a flowering plant that grows as a subshrub, native to southwestern North America from southwestern Oregon south through most of California.
- The flowers are tubular at the base and occur in a variety of shades from white to red, with light orange being the most common. They are honey plants, pollinated by bees and hummingbirds.
- The plant grows in many climates and thrives in a wide range of soils—wet, dry, sandy, or rocky. It even grows in serpentine soils.
- Diplacus aurantiacus is an important host plant for the larvae of the common buckeye butterfly and the variable checkerspot.
- The species and its cultivars are used in water-conserving, native-plant, and habitat gardens. Because it does not tolerate freezing temperatures, it is often grown under glass in temperate zones.
- In the UK, it has received the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit.
- The Miwok and Pomo Native Americans used the plant to treat minor ailments such as sores, burns, diarrhea, and eye irritation.
- 粘猴花又稱橙色灌木猴面花，是一種開花植物，以亞灌木的形式生長，原產於北美西南部，從俄勒岡州西南部向南延伸至加州的大部分地區。
- 花朵基部呈管狀，顏色從白色到紅色不等，其中以淺橙色最為常見。它們是蜜源植物，由蜜蜂和蜂鳥授粉。
- 這種植物適應性強，能在多種氣候條件下生長，對土壤需求也不高——無論是潮濕的、乾燥的、沙質的還是岩石質的土壤，它都能茁壯成長。甚至在蛇紋岩土壤中也能生長。
- 粘猴花是北美眼蛱蝶 (common buckeye butterfly) 和變色棋盤蝶 (variable checkerspot) 幼蟲的重要寄主植物。
- 本種及其栽培品種常用於節水型花園、原生植物花園和生態棲地花園。由於它不耐寒，因此在溫帶地區通常採用溫室栽培。
- 在英國，它獲得了皇家園藝學會頒發的“花園優異獎”。
- 美洲原住民米沃克人 (Miwok) 和 波莫人 (Pomo) 使用這種植物治療輕微疾病，例如瘡，燒傷，腹瀉和眼睛刺激。
References 參考資料
- Wikipedia: Diplacus aurantiacus
Plants Posts 植物的帖子
Comments