So I was told this was a mimulus/monkey flower, but I would like to confirm/correct that. It does not seem like those that I do know in the mountains. It was on Yellow Aster Bute trail at Mount Baker last September. Any ideas/info?
With nothing much to do tonight, I've been trying to find the name of this plant. I do not think it is Mimulus . . . Mimulus lewisii is pink but doesn't look like the flower in your photo. Does the stem look square to you? My hunch is that this is in the mint family - Lamiaceae - perhaps a salvia. I look forward to someone more knowledgeable than I am to positively identify it.
I started to write this before you wrote your reply, but got sidetracked on a site with amazing photos. It looks more mint-y to me too, something in the Lamiaceae family. Were the stems square (I wrote before you wrote)? I see one photo of Calamintha grandiflora that looks like that, and a description that says fuzzy leaves, but most of the photos show leaves and stems with no hairs and different leaf margins, not as scallopped, and I don't think that it should be growing wild around there.
Perhaps Cooley's Hedge Nettle (Stachys cooleyae)? Check: Washington Native Plant Society: Starflower Image Herbarium
That looks pretty convincing. Thanks for linking to that site. What a useful site, with several ways to browse. I have added it to our resource page on Pacific Northwest Native Plants Resources.
fantastic! By jove, you have got it! I wandered thru some nettles on line last night but could not come up with what you found. Terrific. T.
