Mimulus (monkey-flower) is a highly diverse plant genus of about 150 species currently placed in the family Phrymaceae. The removal of Mimulus from the family Scrophulariaceae has been supported by molecular studies of chloroplast DNA first published in the mid-1990s. Multiple studies of chloroplast DNA and two regions of nuclear ribosomal DNA suggest that the genera Phryma, Berendtiella, Hemichaena, Leucocarpus, Microcarpeae, Peplidium, Glossostigma, and Elacholoma are all derived from within Mimulus.