MOSS FORGET-ME-NOT 



Eritrichum elongatum (Rydberg) W. F.Wight 



This member of the Borage Family, whose flowers look so much 

 like a true forget-me-not, is one of the plants that have adapted them- 

 selves to severe alpine conditions. Growing above timberline where 

 there is little shelter from storm and wind, it hugs the ground, its 

 woody root firmly inserted in some crevice, where barely sufficient 

 soil has collected to permit its growth. Its flowers nestle in a mass of 

 gray moss-like leaves, whose somber coloring enhances the rare blue 

 of the flowers. 



Moss forget-me-not ranges through the Rocky Mountains from 

 New Mexico to Montana and Oregon. 



The specimen painted was found on a trail that carried us away 

 from the lower valleys near Apollonaris Spring in Yellowstone Na- 

 tional Park, Montana. 



plate 359 



