Myosotis

Wood forget-me-nots Myosotis sylvatica, from here.

Belongs within: Cynoglosseae.

Myosotis, the forget-me-nots, is a genus of herbaceous plants found in cooler regions of the world with mostly blue (occasionally white or yellow) flowers.

Characters (from Hickman 1993): Annual or perennial, glabrous to rough-hairy; roots generally diffuse. Stem decumbent to erect. Basal leaves generally oblong or oblanceolate; cauline leaves generally linear to elliptic. Inflorescence coiled, generally raceme-like, eventually more or less open; bracts absent (or leaf-like in lower half); flowers generally in upper half of plant. Flower with five calyx lobes, generally more or less equal; corolla salverform or widely funnel-shaped, white, yellow, or generally blue, tube five-appendaged at top, limb abruptly spreading, five-lobed; stamens 5, included; style generally included. Nutlets smooth, shiny, each with raised outer margin, scar lateral, at base, small.

<==Myosotis Linnaeus 1753 A61 [incl. M. sect. Eumyosotis C06, Exarrhena Brown 1810 A61; Myosotideae]
    |--M. albo-sericea Hooker 1867 A61
    |--M. amabilis Cheeseman 1906 A61
    |--M. angustata Cheeseman 1906 A61
    |--M. antarctica Hooker 1844 A61
    |--M. arnoldii Moore in Allan 1961 A61
    |--M. arvensis LC02
    |--M. australis Br. 1810 (see below for synonymy) A61
    |--M. caespitosa HE80
    |--M. capitata Hooker 1844 A61
    |--M. cheesemanii Petrie 1886 A61
    |--M. colensoi (Kirk) Macbride 1916 [=Exarrhena colensoi Kirk 1895; incl. M. decora Kirk ex Cheeseman 1906] A61
    |--M. collina C06
    |--M. concinna Cheeseman 1885 A61
    |--M. discolor [incl. M. versicolor] H93
    |--M. elderi Moore in Allan 1961 A61
    |--M. eximia Petrie 1916 A61
    |--M. explanata Cheeseman 1906 A61
    |--M. forsteri Lehm. 1818 (see below for synonymy) A61
    |--M. glabrescens Moore in Allan 1961 A61
    |--M. goyenii Petrie 1891 A61
    |--M. laeta Cheeseman 1885 A61
    |--M. laingii Cheeseman 1912 A61
    |--M. latifolia H93
    |--M. laxa H93
    |--M. lyallii Hooker 1853 A61 [=Exarrhena lyallii C06]
    |    |--M. l. var. lyallii A61
    |    `--M. l. var. townsonii (Cheeseman) Moore in Allan 1961 [=M. townsonii Cheeseman 1906] A61
    |--M. macrantha (Hooker) Benth. & Hooker 1876 (see below for synonymy) A61
    |--M. matthewsii Moore in Allan 1961 A61
    |--M. micrantha H93
    |--M. monroi Cheeseman 1906 A61
    |--M. oreophila Petrie 1896 A61 [=M. (Exarrhena) oreophila C06]
    |--M. palustris BR65
    |--M. petiolata Hooker 1853 A61 [=Exarrhena petiolata C06]
    |    |--M. p. var. petiolata A61
    |    |--M. p. var. pansa Moore in Allan 1961 A61
    |    `--M. p. var. pottsiana Moore in Allan 1961 A61
    |--M. pulvinaris Hooker 1864 [incl. M. hectori Hooker 1864] A61
    |--M. pygmaea Colenso 1884 (see below for synonymy) A61
    |    |--M. p. var. pygmaea A61
    |    |--M. p. var. drucei Moore in Allan 1961 A61
    |    |--M. p. var. glauca Simpson & Thomson 1943 A61
    |    `--M. p. var. minutiflora Simpson & Thomson 1943 A61
    |--M. rakiura Moore in Allan 1961 (see below for synonymy) A61
    |--M. ramosissima G88
    |--M. refracta C55
    |--M. saxosa Hooker 1853 [=Exarrhena saxosa Hooker 1864] A61
    |--M. scorpioides LDB98
    |--M. spathulata Forster 1786 A61 [=Anchusa spathulata C06; incl. M. orbiculata Simpson 1952 A61]
    |    |--M. s. var. spathulata A61
    |    `--M. s. var. radicata Moore in Allan 1961 A61
    |--M. stricta HE80
    |--‘*Exarrhena’ suaveolens A61
    |--M. suavis Petrie 1914 A61
    |--M. subvernicosa Colenso 1891 (n. d.) A61
    |--M. sylvatica BR65
    |--M. tenericaulis Petrie 1918 [=M. tenuicaulis (l. c.); incl. M. tenuis Simpson & Thomson 1944] A61
    |--M. traversii Hooker 1864 A61
    |    |--M. t. var. traversii (see below for synonymy) A61
    |    |--M. t. var. cantabrica Moore in Allan 1961 A61
    |    `--M. t. var. cinerascens (Petrie) Moore in Allan 1961 [=M. cinerascens Petrie 1918] A61
    |--M. uniflora Hooker 1864 A61
    |--M. venosa Colenso 1896 [incl. M. astonii Cheeseman 1910, M. diversifolia Petrie 1918] A61
    `--M. verna [incl. M. virginica] H93

Myosotis australis Br. 1810 [incl. M. australis var. conspicua Cheeseman 1906, M. australis var. lytteltonensis Laing & Wall 1924, M. saxatilis Petrie 1918 non Pallas 1795] A61

Myosotis forsteri Lehm. 1818 [incl. M. hamiltonii Colenso 1888, M. polyantha Colenso 1899, M. tenuifolia Colenso 1899] A61

Myosotis macrantha (Hooker) Benth. & Hooker 1876 [=Exarrhena macrantha Hooker 1864; incl. M. macrantha var. diversa Simpson & Thomson 1943, M. macrantha var. pulchra Cheeseman 1906, M. macrantha var. westlandica Petrie 1918] A61

Myosotis pygmaea Colenso 1884 [incl. M. ramificata Simpson 1952, M. antarctica ssp. traillii Kirk 1884, M. pygmaea var. traillii (Kirk) Ckn. 1921] A61

Myosotis rakiura Moore in Allan 1961 [=M. capitata var. albiflora Armstr. 1881 non M. albiflora Banks & Sol. ex Hooker 1847, M. capitata ssp. albida Kirk 1885, M. albida (Kirk) Cheeseman in Cockayne 1909 non Kunth in H.B. & K. 1818] A61

Myosotis traversii Hooker 1864 var. traversii [incl. M. cockayniana Petrie 1913, M. traversii var. cockayniana (Petrie) Cheeseman 1925] A61

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[A61] Allan, H. H. 1961. Flora of New Zealand vol. 1. Indigenous Tracheophyta: Psilopsida, Lycopsida, Filicopsida, Gymnospermae, Dicotyledones. R. E. Owen, Government Printer: Wellington (New Zealand).

[BR65] Black, J. M., & E. L. Robertson. 1965. Flora of South Australia. Part IV. Oleaceae–Compositae. W. L. Hawes, Government Printer: Adelaide.

[C55] Candolle, A. de. 1855. Géographie Botanique Raisonée: Ou exposition des faits principaux et des lois concernant la distribution géographique des plantes de l’époque actuelle vol. 2. Librairie de Victor Masson: Paris.

[C06] Cheeseman, T. F. 1906. Manual of the New Zealand Flora. John Mackay, Government Printer: Wellington.

[G88] Grubb, P. J. 1988. The uncoupling of disturbance and recruitment, two kinds of seed bank, and persistence of plant populations at the regional and local scales. Annales Zoologici Fennici 25: 23–26.

[HE80] Healy, A. J., & E. Edgar. 1980. Flora of New Zealand vol. 3. Adventive cyperaceous, petalous and spathaceous monocotyledons. P. D. Hasselberg, Government Printer: Wellington (New Zealand).

[H93] Hickman, J. C. (ed.) 1993. The Jepson Manual: Higher Plants of California. University of California Press: Berkeley (California).

[LC02] Långström, E., & M. W. Chase. 2002. Tribes of Boraginoideae (Boraginaceae) and placement of Antiphytum, Echiochilon, Ogastemma and Sericostoma: a phylogenetic analysis based on atpB plastid DNA sequence data. Plant Systematics and Evolution 234: 137–153.

[LDB98] Lenssen, J. P. M., G. E. ten Dolle & C. W. P. M. Blom. 1998. The effect of flooding on the recruitment of reed marsh and tall forb plant species. Plant Ecology 139: 13–23.