YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK 



(blue) _^i A (blue) 



51 



WATERLEAF 



FORGET-ME-NOT 



Waterleaf (Phacelia). The waterleaf is plentiful 

 on gravelly soils; in places it forms thick bunches in 

 the dry ditches along the roads. It is a stiffly erect 

 plant, a foot or so in height. The stem is clothed al- 

 most to the top with leaves ; these are finely cleft ana 

 divided, and both stem and leaves are somewhat hairy. 

 The dark blue flowers are clustered in a dense spike at 

 the summit of the stem. They are somewhat trumpet- 

 shaped, with five rounded lobes representing the petals. 

 The stamens are long and projecting, giving the whole 

 spike a bristly or fuzzy appearance. The blossoming 

 season lasts from June well into July. 



Forget-Me-Not {Mijosotis). The true forget-me- 

 not is abundant through about the same range as that 

 occupied by the waterleaf. It is a low plant, averag- 

 ing about eight inches high, softly hairy, with narrow, 

 pointed leaves and a loose, branching cluster of small, 

 blue flowers. There are several other blue-flowered 

 plants in the Park closely related to the forget-me-not ; 

 the Stickseed (Lappula), taller and coarser, whose 

 seeds become bothersome little burrs ; the Alpine For- 

 get-Me-Not ( Mertensia alpina), a small plant whose 

 flowers are densely crowded, and the Dwarf Forget-Me- 

 Not {Eritrichium) , only about two inches high. 



