BOBAGITfEa;. 377 



riea, but reappearing in Australia. Although the characters which separate 

 it from AlTcanet appear slight, it is very distinct in habit. 



Calyx-teeth short or not divided beyond the middle. Hairs of the 



calyx ippressed 1. Water "M. 



Calyx deeply cleft, the hairg spreading or hooked. 



Pedicels as long or longer than the calyx, 3 to 6 lines long when in 

 fruit. 

 Perennial with rather large flowers. Limb of the corolla flat . . 2. TPood M. 

 Annual or biennial, with small flowers. Limb of the corolla often 



concave 3. Field M. 



Pedicels not above a line long, usually shorter than the calyx. 

 Annuals. 

 Stem ascending or branched from the base. Calyx usually open 



after flowering. Corolla always blue 4. Early "M, 



Stem erect, simple at the base. Calyx always closed after flower- 

 ing. CoroUa at first yellow, afterwards blue 5. Changing M. 



Some exotic species are cultivated in our flower-gardens, together with 

 varieties of the mater M., the wood If., and the earli/ M. 



1. TVater Myosote. Myosotis palustris, With. 



(Eng. Bot. t. 1973. Forget-me-not) 

 Perennial stock usually slightly creeping ; the stems weak, ascending, 

 from 6 to 18 inches high, often nearly glabrous, but sometimes rather 

 thickly clothed with spreadmg hairs. Leaves glabrous or with appressed 

 hairs. Flowers of a bright clear blue, with a yeUow eye, very variable in 

 size, but usually rather large for the genus. Calyx never divided below the 

 middle, whilst in aU other British species it is deeply cleft. 



In wet ditches, and by the sides of streams, in Europe, Eussian Asia, 

 and northern America, extending into the Arctic Circle. Abundant in 

 Britain. Fl. the ivhole summer. Modern botanists divide it into three : 

 tlie true Forget-me-not, which is often nearly glabrous, with a broad flat co- 

 rolla, and short broad teeth to the calyx ; M. repens (Eng. Bot. Suppl. t. 

 2703), which is more hairy, with narrower lobes to the calyx, reaching to 

 about the middle ; and M. ctespitosa (Eng. Bot. Suppl. t. 2661), with a smaller 

 coroUa, with the Umb often slightly concave : the first is more common in 

 the south, the last in the north, but they all tliree run so much one into 

 another as not to be distinguishable with certainty even as varieties. 



2. 'Wood Myosote. Myosotis sylvatica, Hoffm. 

 (Eng. Bot. Suppl: t. 2630. M. rupicola, Eng. Bot. t. 2559.) 



A perennial, Uke the water M. but with a more tufted stock, and rather 

 roughly hairy. Calys cleft nearly to the base, with narrow segments, erect 

 when in fruit ; its hairs more or less spreading, and crisped or hooked when 

 seen through a lens. CoroUa as large or even larger than in the water M., 

 with the limb spread out flat. 



In mountain pastures and shady situations, common in the far north of 

 Europe and Asia, as well as in the great central chains from the Pyrenees 

 to the Caucasus and the Altai. Not frequent in Britain, and perhaps limited 

 to Scotland and the north of England. Fl. summer. It varies much in size 

 and stature ; in lower shady situations, and in our gardens, the stems will 

 attain a foot or more in length, with rather small flowers. The alpine 

 form, with larger flowers, is by some distinguished as a species, under the 

 name of M. alpestris. 



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