OBSERVATIONS ON THE BRITISH SPECIES OF MYOSOTIS. 



By Robert J. N. Streeten, M. D. 



In the Species Plantarum of Linneus four species of the genus Myosotis are 

 enumerated. Two of these are now referred to Echinospermum ; of the remaining 

 two, the Myosotis scorpioides is the only one with which we are, at present, con- 

 cerned. Under this name the immortal founder of systematic botany — for until 

 his time the science was little more than a rudis indigestaque moles, a confused 

 mass of observations beyond the powers of the most retentive memory to retain — 

 appears to have included several of the now recognized species, three of which he 

 indeed characterizes as varieties. Of these varieties the first, a , is the Myosotis ar- 

 vensis of the Swedish botanists and of Hooker's British Flora ; the second, ft is 

 the M. palustris of modern authors, the true Forget-me-not ; and the third, 

 y, is the M. versicolor of Lehman and others. Our countryman, Ray, had 

 already recognized these varieties, and Dillenius had added another, the Myosotis 

 scorpioides latifolia hirsuta (M. sylvatica of Hooker's British Flora}., of which 

 he gives a figure. This last, however, appears to have been first admitted as a 

 distinct species of the flora of this country by Sir James Smith, in his English 

 Flora, under the name of M. intermedia, although he erroneously refers the 

 plant of Dillenius to his M. sylvatica, which is the M. arvensis of the British 

 Flora ; Hudson had previously admitted it as a variety of M. scorpioides in his 

 Flora Anglica, in addition to those described in the Species Plantarum. Sir 

 James Smith and Sir William J. Hooker have not only recognized the preceding 

 as species but have admitted three new ones — the M. alpestris of Schmidt, the 

 M. cosspitosa of Schultz (?) and the M. collina of Hoflman ; which last is the M. 

 arvensis of the English Flora, although with some erroneous synonyms. To 

 these may, perhaps, be added the M. repens of Don, which is admitted as a dis- 

 tinct species by some foreign botanists, although it has hitherto been considered, 

 by British authors, as a variety merely of M. palustris. 



Having made these preliminary observations, I proceed now to give the charac- 

 ters of the genus and species, with such remarks as may be required for their 

 further elucidation. 



Myosotis, Linn. — Scorpion Grass. 



Linnean Class, Pentandria — Order, Monogynia. 



Natural Order, Boraginece, Jussieu. 



Gen. Char. — Calyx five-cleft or five-toothed. Corolla salver-shaped, with a 

 short tube; the lobes obtuse, emarginate; the mouth half-closed, with short 

 rounded scales. Nuts smooth, perforated at the base. 

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