MYOSOTIS PALUSTRIS -THE FORGET-ME-NOT. 
Class V. PENTANDRIA.— Order I. MONOGYNIA. 
Natural Order, BORAGINEiE. THE BORAGE TRIBE. 
Hairs of the stem adpressed: leaves obovate-lanceolate, obtuse, rather scabrous from strigse: racemes 
bractless: pedicels diverging while bearing the fruit, nearly twice the length of the calyx, which is 5-parted, 
obtuse, and spreading, and equalling the tube of the corolla; limb of corolla flat, longer than the tube. 
Native throughout Europe, Asia, and North America, in humid meadows, bogs, banks of rivers, rivulets, 
and ditches ; plentiful in Britain, in like situations. Plants pale green, roughish stems creeping at the 
base. Racemes simple or conjugate. Corolla blue, throat yellow, tube length of calyx, segments of the 
limb obovate, emarginate, or obcordate. There is also a variety of this with white flowers. This, the 
Forget-me-not, is the emblem of affection among the Germans. It is now a general favourite, and de- 
servedly so ; its beauty is so striking as to have acquired for it a kind of proverbial name. Few who have 
observed the flower are likely to forget it. But no where are these beautiful flowers found in such great 
abundance, as on the banks of a brook near the Luxembourg. The peasants call that brook the “ Fairy 
Bath,” or the “ Cascade of the enchanted Oak these two names are given to it on account of the beauty 
of its source, whence it issues murmuring at the foot of a very old oak. The waters of the brook at first 
roll on from cascade to cascade, under a long vault of verdure, and afterward flow gently through an ex- 
tensive meadow : then they appear to the enchanted eye as a long silver thread. The southern bank alone 
is covered with a thick tapestry of the Forget-me-not ; its pretty flowers spangle in July, clad in as bright a 
blue as that of the cerulean sky. Then they incline as if they took delight in admiring themselves in the 
crystal waters, whose purity is unequalled. On this spot the young girls frequently assemble to celebrate 
their birth-days, by dancing on the borders of the brook. When covered with these lovely flowers we 
might suppose them to be nymphs celebrating games in honour of the naiad of the enchanted oak. 
It is related that a young couple, who were on the eve of being united, whilst walking along the de- 
lightful banks of the Danube, saw one of these lovely flowers floating on the waves which seemed ready to 
carry it away. The affianced bride admired the beauty of the flower, and regretted its fatal destiny. The 
lover was induced to precipitate himself into the water, where he had no sooner seized the flower than he 
sank into the flood, but making a last effort, he threw the flower upon the shore, and at the moment of dis- 
appearing for ever, he exclaimed, “Vergiss mein nicht ,” since which time this flower has been made emble- 
matical, and taken the name of “ Forget-me-not.” 
The Myosotides are mucilaginous and slightly astringent, and have been used in decoctions as Collyria; 
and the leaves are bruised and made into emollient poultices, which are said to be serviceable in inflammation 
of the eyes. They are, however, very seldom employed in medicine. 
Fond memory’s flower of azure dye ! 
Permit thy Bard one boon to crave 
When in death’s narrow bed I lie, 
Oh ! bloom around my narrow grave : 
And if some tender, faithful friend 
Should, led by love, approach the spot 
And o’er thy flowers admiring bend, 
Then say for me. “ Forget me not.” 
Mrs. Opie. 
