582 



THE BORAGE FAMILY. 



Wood Myosote. 



(Eng. Bot. Suppl. 



Fig. 693. 



Myosotis sylvatica, Hoffm. (Fig. 693.) 

 t. 2630. M. rupicola, Eng. Bot. t. 2559.) 



A perennial, like the water M. but 

 with a more tufted stock, and rather 

 roughly hairy. Calyx cleft nearly to the 

 base, with narrow segments, erect when 

 in fruit ; its hairs more or less spread- 

 ing, and crisped or hooked when seen 

 through a lens. Corolla as large or even 

 larger than in the water M., with the 

 limb spread out flat. 



In mountain pastures and shady situa- 

 tions, common in the far north of Eu- 

 rope 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 Scot- 

 land, the north of England, and Ireland. 

 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 distin- 

 guished as a species, under the name of M. alpestris. 



3. Field Myosote. Myosotis arvensis, Roth. (Eig. 694.) 

 (Eng. Bot. Suppl. t. 2629.) 



An annual or sometimes biennial, with 

 a weak stem often above a foot long. It 

 has the hairy foliage and deeply cleft 

 calyx of the wood M., but the corolla, 

 although variable, is much smaller, with 

 a short, concave limb. Calyx shorter 

 than the pedicels or scarcely so long, 

 even when in fruit, with narrow seg- 

 ments, erect when in fruit. 



On hedge-banks, in cultivated ground, 

 the edges of woods, and bushy places, 

 throughout Europe and central and 

 northern Asia, and in North America. 

 The most common species all over Bri- 

 tain. Fl. all summer and autumn. Some 

 of the larger-flowered specimens are dif- 

 ficult to to distinguish in the dried state 

 from the smaller-flowered ones of the 

 wood M. 9 but when fresh I have never 

 observed any really intermediate forms. 



Fig. 694. 



