Genus ii. 



BORAGE FAMILY. 



85 



11. MYOSOTIS [Dill] L. Sp. PI. 131. 1753. 



Low annual biennial or perennial, more or less pubescent, branching, diffuse or erect 

 herbs, with alternate entire leaves, and small blue pink or white flowers in many-flowered 

 elongated bractless more or less i-sided racemes, or these sometimes leafy at the base. 

 Calyx 5-cleft, the lobes narrow, spreading or erect in fruit. Corolla salverform, the limb 

 5-lobed, the lobes convolute in the bud, rounded, the throat crested. Stamens 5, included, 

 inserted on the corolla-tube; filaments filiform; anthers obtuse. Ovary 4-divided, style fili- 

 form. Nutlets erect, glabrous or pilose, attached by their bases to the receptacle, the scar of 

 attachment small, flat. [Greek, mouse-ear.] 



About 35 species of wide geographic distribution. Besides the following, i or 2 others occur irt 

 the southern and western parts of North America. Called forget-me-not and scorpion-grass. 

 Type species: Myosotis scorpioides L. 



Hairs of the calyx all straight ; perennial swamp or brook plants. 

 Calyx-lobes shorter than the tube ; corolla 3"-4" broad. 

 Calyx-lobes as long as the tube ; corolla 2" 3" broad. 

 Hairs of the calyx, or some of them, with hooked tips ; annuals or biennials. 

 Fruiting pedicels longer than the calyx. 

 Fruiting pedicels not longer than the calyx. 



Calyx-lobes equal ; corolla blue or yellowish, changing to violet and blue. 

 Corolla yellowish, changing to violet and blue ; style longer than the nutlets. 



4. 



Corolla blue; style not longer than the nutlets. 5 



Calyx-lobes unequal ; corolla white. 6 



1. M. scorpioides. 



2. M. laxa. 



3. M. arvensis. 



M. versicolor. 

 M. micrantha. 

 M. virginica. 



i. Myosotis scorpioides L. Forget-me-not. 

 Mouse-ear Scorpion-grass. Fig. 3529. 



Myosotis scorpioides var. palustris L. Sp. PI. 131. 1753. 

 Myosotis palustris Lam. Fl. Fr. 2 : 2S3. 1 778. 



Appressed-pubescent, perennial, with slender root- 

 stocks or stolons; stems slender, decumbent or as- 

 cending, rooting at the lower nodes, 6'-i8' long. 

 Leaves oblong, oblanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, ob- 

 tuse, narrowed at the base, 1' 3' long, 2"-6" wide, 

 those of the stem sessile or very nearly so, or the 

 lower petioled ; racemes loosely many-flowered ; pedi- 

 cels longer than the calyx ; calyx with straight ap- 

 pressed hairs, its lobes equal, triangular-ovate, acute, 

 shorter than the tube, spreading in fruit; corolla 

 blue with a yellow eye, the limb flat, 3"-4" broad ; 

 nutlets angled and keeled on the inner side. 



In brooks and marshes, Newfoundland to New York, 

 Pennsylvania and Tennessee. Escaped from cultiva- 

 tion. Native of Europe and Asia. Called also marsh 

 scorpion-grass, snake-grass and love-me. May-July. 



2. Myosotis laxa Lehm. 

 me-not. Figf. 



Smaller Forget- 

 3530. 



Myosotis laxa Lehm. Asperif. 83. 1818. 



Myosotis palustris var. laxa A. Gray, Man. Ed. 5, 

 365- 1S67. 



Perennial, appressed-pubescent, similar to the 

 preceding species; stems decumbent, spreading, 

 rooting at the nodes, 6'-2o' long. Leaves oblong, 

 oblong-lanceolate or spatulate, obtuse; racemes 

 very loosely many-f.owered ; pedicels spreading, 

 much longer than the fruiting calyx ; hairs of the 

 calyx straight, appressed, its lobes equal, ovate- 

 lanceolate, acutish, spreading in fruit, quite as 

 long as the tube; corolla blue with a yellow eye, 

 its limb concave, about 2" broad; nutlets convex 

 on both the inner and outer sides. 



In wet muddy places, Newfoundland to Ontario, 

 south to Virginia and Tennessee. Also in Europe. 

 Ascends to 3500 ft. in Virginia. May-July. 



