These flowers are very pale lavender, pink, or white and have 2 upper and 3 lower lobes and two yellow spots inside. Each flower is about an inch in diameter and grows from a short stalk in the leaf axil. This plant belongs to the snapdragon family which has similarly shaped flowers. The leaves are paired, 2 to 4 inches long, oblong to lanceolate, and have toothed edges. The stem is square with "wings" on the corners.

In the sharp-winged monkey flower, both flowers and leaves have short stalks. In a similar species, the square-stemmed monkey flower, the flowers are on long stalks while the leaves are sessile (stalkless). Both species are found in wet habitats.

The flower is supposed to look like a monkey's face; the genus name, mimulus, means buffoon in Latin. The flowers are found from June through September.