Forget-me-not

Myosotis arvensis or field forget-me-not is a herbaceous annual to short lived perennial flowering plant in the family Boraginaceae. It is native to Europe, Turkey, the Caucasus, Siberia, the western Himalayas, and northwestern Africa. The plant is annual to perennial, erect, to 40 cm and patent-hairy (hairs more-or-less at right-angles to the stem). The flowers are grey-blue, across, saucer shaped in profile, the sepal tube with hooked hairs. The mature fruits are dark brown, shiny nutlets. In the British Isles the plant is an archaeophyte, common throughout the isles on open, well-drained ground.

Two subspecies and one variety are accepted.

• Myosotis arvensis subsp. arvensis – Europe to Siberia, Turkey, the Caucasus, Western Himalayas, and northwestern Africa
• Myosotis arvensis var. garciasii – Balearic Islands
• Myosotis arvensis subsp. umbrata – western and southern Europe from Norway to Italy, Portugal, the British Isles, and Iceland, and Romania