Red and Orange Monkeyflowers in MTRP
Recently iNaturalist adopted "Plants of the World Online" as its new taxonomic reference for vascular plants. As a result, all plants previously identified as Mimulus aurantiacus underwent an "automatic taxon swap" to Diplacus aurantiacus. Unfortunately, that means there are now a bunch of plant observations from Mission Trails that are misidentified. Diplacus aurantiacus (with the common name on iNat of Orange Bush Monkeyflower) is found in central and northern California. The two species of Diplacus documented in San Diego in the area of Mission Trails are D. puniceus (flowers red to scarlet and called Red Sticky Monkeyflower on iNat) and D. x australis (flowers pale yellow to light orange and called San Diego Monkeyflower on iNat). Here is a link to a paper discussing the taxonomy of Diplacus with photos and a key which you may find helpful to determine which species you have seen in the park.
