Spring Forget-Me-Not (Myosotis stricta)
Description
Myosotis verna (Spring Forget-me-not) Raceme of stalked flowers at the tips of branching stems, the cluster initially tightly curled at the tip with flowers opening in succession as the tip unfurls and elongates. Flowers are about 1/8 inch across, short tubular with 5 spreading, egg shaped to oblong lobes. The calyx surrounding the base of the flower is about - inch long, twice as long or more as the flower stalk and has five lance-triangular lobes, 3 of the lobes distinctly longer than the other two but shorter than the calyx tube. The floral tube is shorter than the calyx, causing the flower to take on a bell shape even when fully open. The calyx is densely covered in spreading hairs, at least some of which on the lower portion with minutely hooked tips (hand lens recommended). The central stem and flower stalks are densely covered in a mix of spreading and appressed hairs. Leaves are alternate, toothless, the lower leaves mostly broadest above the middle, often stalked, the tip rounded, up to 2 inches long and 1/3 inch wide, becoming smaller, stalkless and more lance-oblong as they ascend the stem. Surfaces are densely covered in spreading and appressed hairs, with a sparse fringe of hairs all around the edge. The lowest leaves wither away by flowering time. Stems are round in cross-section or angled, multiple and branched at the base or single, erect, few branched above, the branches erect to ascending, densely covered in a mix of spreading and appressed hairs. Fruit is four parted, (a schizocarp) hidden inside the persistent calyx, spliting into four dark, shiny, egg shaped nutlets (mericarps) less than 1/10 inch long, longer than the persistent style.
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum: Magnoliophyta
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Class: Magnoliopsida
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Order: Boraginales
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Family: Boraginaceae
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Genus: Myosotis
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