''Myosotis scorpioides'' ( syn. ''Myosotis palustris''), the true forget-me-not or water forget-me-not, is a

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of ...

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

in the borage family,

Boraginaceae Boraginaceae, the Borago, borage or forget-me-not family, includes about 2,000 species of shrubs, trees, and herbs in 146 to 154 genus, genera with a worldwide distribution. The APG IV system from 2016 classifies the Boraginaceae as single famil ...

Distribution and habitat

It is native to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, but is widely distributed elsewhere, including much of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, as an

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...

and sometimes a

noxious weed A noxious weed, harmful weed or injurious weed is a weed that has been designated by an agricultural or other governing authority as a plant that is harmful to agricultural or horticultural crops, natural habitats or ecosystems, or humans or lives ...

. The plant is common and widespread in Britain, however is very rare in Jersey. The plant is usually found in damp or wet habitats, such as bogs, ponds, streams, ditches, fen and rivers. Whilst it favours wet ground, it can survive submerged in water, and often can form floating rafts.

Description

It is an erect to ascending plant of up to 70 cm, bearing small (8-12 mm) flowers pink in bud, becoming blue when fully open, with yellow centers and white honey guides. The plant is distinguished by its long style. The leaves are oblong to linear and pubescent on both sides. It blooms from mid-spring to first frost in temperate climates. ''Myosotis scorpioides'' is also known as scorpion grass due to the spiraling curve of its inflorescence on scorpioid cymes.

Gallery

File:Myosotis scorpioides PID1155-3.jpg, Whole plant File:Myosotis scorpioides LC0184.jpg, Flowers File:Myosotis scorpioides blatt.jpeg, Leaves File:Illustration Myosotis scorpioides0.jpg, Plate 487 from Thomé's ''Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz'' (1885)

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentPhoto gallery
{{Taxonbar, from=Q147165 scorpioides Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus