( 57 .) 
MYOSO'TIS* *. 
Linnean Class and Order. PENTA'NDRiAf, Monogy'nia. 
JVatural Order. Boragi'neav. Juss. — Lind. Syn. p. 163; 
Introd. to Nat. Syst. p. 241. — Rich, by Macgilliv. p. 440. — Smith’s 
Gram, of Bot. p. 102. Engl. FI. v. i. p. 247. — Asperifoli.e of 
Rat/, Linnceus, and Schrader. 
Gen. Char. Calyx (fig. 1.) inferior, of 1 sepal, oblong, up- 
right, deeply divided into 5 pointed, equal segments, permanent. 
Corolla (fig. 2.) of 1 petal, salver-shaped ; tube cylindrical, short ; 
limb ascending, or horizontal, in 5, rather deep, blunt, often notched, 
equal lobes; mouth half closed with 5 small, rounded, notched, 
convex, approaching, slightly prominent valves. Filaments 5, very 
short, in the throat of the tube. Anthers small, oblong, concealed 
by the valves. Germens 4, roundish, inserted into the base of the 
calyx. Style (fig. 3.) thread-shaped, central, upright, the length of 
the tube. Stigma blunt. Seeds (fig. 4.) 4, egg-shaped, rather com- 
pressed, pointed, smooth, each with a small hollow at its point of 
insertion. 
The salver-shaped Corolla of 5 blunt lobes ; the mouth closed 
with 5 rounded valves ; the Seeds perforated at the base, and borne 
by the Calyx ; will distinguish this genus from all others with a 
monopetalous, inferior Corolla, and 4 apparently naked Seeds, in 
the same class and order. 
Seven species British. 
MYOSO'TIS PALU'STRIS. Great Water Scorpion-grass. 
Marsh Mouse-ear. Forget-me-not. 
Spec. Char. Seeds smooth. Calyx with straight close pressed 
bristles, when in fruit bell-shaped, open, shorter than the divergent 
pedicels ; limb of the corolla flat, longer than the tube, pubescence 
of the stem spreading, (or wanting). Hooker. 
Eng. Bot. t. 1973. — Sm. Engl. FI. v. i. p. 249. — With. (7th ed.) v. ii. p. 275. 
— Lind). Syn. p. 165. — Hook . Brit FI. p. 83. — Gray’s Nat. Arr. v. ii. p. 347. — 
Sibth. FI. Oxon. p. 68. — Abbot’s FI. Bedf. p.40. — Purt. Midi. FI. v. i. p. 106. — 
Relh. FI. Cantab. (3rd ed . ) p.79. — Hook. FI. Scot. p.67. — Grev. FI. Edin p. 
43. — Rev. G. E. Smith’s PI. of S. Kent, p. 13. — Johnson’s FI. of Berw. v. i. 
p. 51. — FI. Devon, pp. 33 Sc 150. — Walk. FI. of Oxf. p. 46. — Myosotis scor- 
pioides palustris, Johnson’s Gerarde, p. 338. — Ray’s Syn. p.229. — Huds. FI. 
Angl. (2nd ed.) p. 78.— Sm. FI. Brit. p. 212. — Curt. FI. Bond. 1. 165. 
Localities. — I n rivulets, wet ditches, margins of rivers, See. Common. 
Perennial. — Flowers from June to September. 
Root very long, blackish, with tufts of strong fibres. Stems from 
6 to 12 or 18 inches high, ascending obliquely, nearly round, 
branching, leafy, either nearly smooth, or clothed with bristly hairs, 
those on the upper part of the stem close pressed, those on the lower 
part, and on the young branches spreading. Leaves sessile, egg- 
Fig. 1. Calyx. — Fig. 2. Corolla cut open to show the 5 Stamens. — Fig. 3. 
Germen, Style, and Stigma. — Fig. 4. A Seed. — Fig. 5. Lower part of the Stem, 
showing the projecting hairs. — Fig. 6. A piece of the Root. 
* From mus, Gr. a mouse, and uos, otos, Gr. a ear ; from the shape of the 
leaves. Dr. Hooker. t See Anchusa sempervirens, p. 48. note\. 
