Interesting Facts
Description
Family Boraginaceae
Herbs perennial
, biennial, or annual
, less often lianas, shrubs
, or trees
, usually bristly
or scabrous-pubescent. Leaves simple
, exstipulate
, alternate, rarely opposite, entire or serrate at margin
. Inflorescences often double
scorpioid cymes, rarely solitary; bracts present or absent. Flowers bisexual
, actinomorphic
, rarely zygomorphic. Calyx usually 5-parted or lobed
, mostly persistent
. Corolla tubular
, campanulate
, rotate, funnelform
, or salverform
; tube
appendages
5, rarely more, mostly trapeziform, rarely absent, sometimes a ring
of hairs
present; limb usually 5-parted; lobes
overlapping, rarely twisted in bud. Stamens 5, inserted
on corolla tube or rarely at throat
, included
or rarely exserted; anthers
introrse
, 2-loculed, usually dorsifixed
at base
, less often medifixed
, dehiscence longitudinal
. Nectaries at base of corolla tube or on disc below ovary. Ovary superior, 2-carpellate; locules 2 and each with 2 ovules, or 4 and each with 1 ovule; ovules nearly atropous
, semianatropous, or anatropous
. Style terminal
or gynobasic
, branched or not. Gynobase
flat, fastigiate
, or subulate
. Fruit 1-4-seeded drupes or nutlets
(mericarps) ; nutlets mostly dry, often ornamented with wings
, prickles and/or glochids (stiff bristles
with barbed
or anchorlike tips
) . Seeds vertical
or oblique
, coat
membranous; embryo straight, less often curved
; cotyledons flat, fleshy
.
About 156 genera and 2500 species: temperate
and tropical regions
, centered in the Mediterranean region; 47 genera and 294 species in China, of which four genera and 156 species are endemic.[1]
Genus Myosotis
Herbs annual
or perennial
, short pubescent
or glabrescent
. Leaves alternate. Cymes becoming racemelike after anthesis
, ebracteate
or rarely with few bracts. Calyx 5-lobed or parted
, slightly enlarged or not in fruit. Corolla blue or white, rarely light purple, usually salverform
, rarely campanulate
or funnelform
; throat
appendages
5, scalelike; lobes
5, spreading
, rotund
, margin
convolute. Stamens included
; anthers
ovate
to elliptic
, apex obtuse
. Ovary 4-parted. Style linear
; stigma discoid
, mucronate
. Gynobase
flat or slightly convex
. Nutlets
4, usually ovate, appressed
, lenticular
, vertical
, smooth
, shiny; attachment scar
basal.
About 50 species: Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America; five species in China.[2]
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
)
- Haeckel, 1866
- Plants
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
)
- Cavalier-Smith, 1981
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
)
- Sinnott, 1935 ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Vascular Plants
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
)
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
(
)
- Kenrick & Crane, 1997
- Class:
Spermatopsida
(
)
- Brongniart, 1843
- Subclass:
Asteridae
(
)
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Superorder:
Solananae
(
)
- R. Dahlgren Ex Reveal, 1992
- Family:
Boraginaceae
(
)
- A.L. de Jussieu, 1789, nom. cons.
- borage, bourraches
- Subfamily:
Boraginoideae
(
)
- Tribe:
Lithospermeae
(
)
- Genus:
Myosotis
(
)
- C. Linnaeus, 1753
- Forget-me-not
- Cultivar:
Unforgettable
- Botanical name: - Myosotis 'Unforgettable'
- Cultivar:
Unforgettable
- Genus:
Myosotis
(
- Tribe:
Lithospermeae
(
- Subfamily:
Boraginoideae
(
- Family:
Boraginaceae
(
- Superorder:
Solananae
(
- Subclass:
Asteridae
(
- Class:
Spermatopsida
(
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
(
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
Notes
A tentatively accepted name in the RHS Horticultural Database.
Similar Species
Members of the genus Myosotis
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 43 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:
M. alpestris alpestris (Alpine Forget-Me-Not) · M. arvensis (Field Forget-Me-Not) · M. arvensis arvensis (Field Forget-Me-Not) · M. asiatica (Alpine Forget Me Not) · M. australis (Austral Forget-Me-Not) · M. azorica (Azores Forget-Me-Not) · M. canescens (Hairy Forget Me Not) · M. capitata (Sub-Antartic Forget-Me-Not) · M. colensoi (Colensos Forget-Me-Not) · M. discolor (Changing Forget-Me-Not) · M. dissitiflora 'Blue Bird' (Annual Forget-Me-Not) · M. latifolia (Broad-Leaf Forget-Me-Not) · M. laxa (Bay Forget-Me-Not) · M. laxa cespitosa (Bay Forget-Me-Not) · M. macrosperma (Large-Seeded Forget-Me-Not) · M. ramosissima (Early Forget-Me-Not) · M. scirpoides (Forget Me Not) · M. scorpioides (Forget-Me-Not) · M. scorpioides palustris (Forget-Me-Not) · M. scorpioides scorpioides (Yelloweye Forget-Me-Not) · M. scorpioides 'Mermaid' (Water Forget-Me-Not) · M. scorpioides 'Semperflorens' (Water Forget-Me-Not) · M. secunda (Creeping Forget-Me-Not) · M. stricta (Small-Flowered Forget-Me-Not) · M. sylvatica (Forget-Me-Not) · M. sylvatica alba (Woodland Forget-Me-Not) · M. sylvatica 'Bluesylva' (Forget-Me-Not) · M. sylvatica 'Blue Bird' (Blue Bird Forget Me Not) · M. sylvatica 'Bobo Blue' (Bobo Blue Forget-Me-Not) · M. sylvatica 'Early Bird Blue' (Early Bird Blue Forget-Me-Not) · M. sylvatica 'Indigo Compacta' (Forget-Me-Not) · M. sylvatica 'Rosylva' (Forget-Me-Not) · M. sylvatica 'Royal Blue Compact' (Forget-Me-Not) · M. sylvatica 'Snowsylva' (Forget-Me-Not) · M. sylvatica 'Spring Symphony Blue' (Forget-Me-Not) · M. sylvatica 'Victoria Blue' (Victoria Blue Forget-Me-Not) · M. sylvatica 'Victoria Blue Dwarf' (Forget-Me-Not) · M. sylvatica 'Victoria Dark Blue' (Forget-Me-Not) · M. sylvatica 'Victoria Indigo Blue' (Forget-Me-Not) · M. sylvatica 'Victoria Pink Dwarf' (Forget-Me-Not) · M. sylvatica 'Victoria Rose' (Forget-Me-Not) · M. sylvatica 'Victoria White' (Forget-Me-Not) · M. verna (Spring Forget Me Not)
More Info
- Search for Pictures: images.google.com
- Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
- Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
- Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books
Further Reading
- Wang Wen-tsai, Liu Yu-lan, Zhu Ge-ling, Lian Yong-shan, Wang Jing-quan & Wang Qing-rui in Kung Xian-wu & Wang Wen-tsai, eds. 1989. Boraginaceae. Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 64(2): 1-253.
Notes
Contributors
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 30, 2012.
Identifiers
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 1905223
Footnotes
- Gelin Zhu, Harald Riedl & Rudolf V. Kamelin "Boraginaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 16 Page 329. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
- "Myosotis". in Flora of China Vol. 16 Page 360. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
