338 
BORAGINACEJE. (BORAGE FAMILY.) 
site the rounded lobes, which are convolute in the bud ! Stamens 
included, on very short filaments. Nutlets smooth, compressed, 
fixed by a minute scar at the base (not perforate). — Low and 
mostly soft-hairy herbs, with entire leaves, those of the stem ses¬ 
sile, and small flowers in naked racemes, which are entirely bract¬ 
less, or rarely with one or two small leaves towards the base. 
(Name from pvs, mouse , and ovs, anos, ear , in allusion to the ap¬ 
pearance of the short and soft leaves in some species : one popu¬ 
lar name is Mouse-ear.) 
* Calyx open in fruit, the hairs oppressed and simple. 
1. M. palustris, ; With. (True Forget-me-not.) Peren¬ 
nial, more or less hairy; stem angled; leaves oblong-lanceolate, acut- 
ish ; style nearly as long as the 5-toothed calyx. — Corolla bright blue, 
with a yellow eye. The common European species, probably wrong¬ 
ly attributed to this country also, the following having been mis¬ 
taken for it. 
2. UK. ldxa, Lehm. Biennial; the ascending stems rooting 
along the base, terete, branching, sprinkled with minute appresse 
hairs ; leaves linear-oblong, obtuse ; pedicels filiform, longer than the 
flowers, spreading; calyx 5-cleft; style very short. (M. P a ^ st ™*j 
Pursh.) — Very wet places, common. June - Sept. — Plant 9'-™ 
high; the corolla light blue with a yellowish eye, paler and only ha 
as large as in the last, hardly 2 ,r long. 
* * Calyx closing in fruit, clothed with spreading hairs, which are often 
minutely hooked at the apex. 
3. M. Stricta, Link. Annual, low (3' -8'Jiigh) ; stem hair), 
leaves oblong, obtuse, somewhat hoary; raceme leafy at the base, 
pedicels erect in fruit, rather shorter than the 5-cleft calyx; tube o 
the (blue, or nearly white, and very small) corolla included. ( L 
arv6nsis, Pursh. M. v6rna, Nutt. Lycopsis Virginica, Pursh.) — 
Dry hill-sides, &c. May - July. — Probably M. versicolor, and one 
or two others, are to be identified in the Northern States. 
7. MEBTENSIA, Roth. Smooth Lungwort. 
Corolla trumpet-shaped, much longer than the 5 -parted calyx, 
naked, or with 5 small folds in the open throat; the spreading bor 
der 5-lobed. Stamens rising from the throat, protruding. e 
long and thread-form. Nutlets ovoid, smooth or somewhat wri 
kled, rather fleshy, obliquely attached by the prominent interna 
angle (closed). — Smooth ! perennial herbs, with pale and entir 
ovate leaves, and handsome purplish-blue (rarely white) flowers 
