BORAGE FAMILY 



341 



i. M. ccespitosa (Tufted Water Scorpion-grass). — A tufted, 

 light green, rather shining plant with a short, not creeping rhizome ; 

 stem much branched from the base with slender branches, downy 

 with adpressed hairs ; blunt leaves ; and long, slender racemes of 

 short-stalked, sky-blue flowers £ in. across. — Watery places ; 

 common. — Fl. May — August. Peren- 

 nial. 



2. M. scorpioides (Forget-me-not). — 

 A light green, rather shining, almost 

 glabrous plant, with few spreading or 

 adpressed hairs, a creeping rhizome with 

 runners ; blunt, apiculate leaves, the 

 cauline ones sessile or decurrent; and 

 terminal, leafless, 1 -sided clusters of 

 bright blue flowers, nearly \ in. across, 

 with a yellow eye, and a small, white 

 scale at the base of each lobe of the 

 corolla. — Watery places ; common. Few 

 flowers have been more written about 

 than the Forget-me-not, yet there is 

 great disagreement among writers as to 

 the plant to which the name properly 

 belongs. It was once applied to the 

 Ground-pine (Ajuga Chamcepitys) on 

 account of its strong taste of turpentine : 

 some appear to have had the Alkanet in 

 view ; others, the Speedwell ; and others, 

 again, some of the smaller and less 

 brilliantly coloured species of Myosbtis. 

 — Fl. May — August. Perennial. 



3. M. repens (Creeping Water 

 Scorpion-grass). — Rhizome short with 

 leafy runners above ground ; stem angu- 

 lar, slender, branched, with long, spread- 

 ing hairs ; leaves acute ; flowers sky-blue, 

 with a yellow eye, ^ in. across, in long, 

 slender clusters with a few leaves at the 

 base, and very slender, long pedicels 

 bending downward in fruit. — Wet places ; common. 

 August. Perennial. 



4. M. pyrendica (Mountain Forget-me-not). — A short, erect 

 plant, with long, soft, spreading hairs ; radical leaves on long 

 slender stalks, pointed ; flowers deep bright blue, ^ in. across, in 

 short clusters, with short, thick pedicels, and flat, short-tubed 



pulmonXria OFFICINALIS 

 (Common Lungivort). 



-Fl. June- 



