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Forget-me-not Information

Myosotis (pronounced /ˌmaɪ.əˈsoʊtɪs/;[1] from the Greek: "mouse's ear", after the leaf) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Boraginaceae that are commonly called Forget-me-nots. Its common name was calqued from the French, "ne m'oubliez pas" and first used in English in c.1532. Similar names and variations are found in many languages.

Contents

Description

There are approximately fifty species in the genus, with much variation. Most have small (1 cm diameter or less) flat, 5-lobed blue, pink or white flowers with yellow centers, growing on scorpioid cymes. They bloom in spring. Leaves are alternate. Popular in gardens, Forget-me-nots prefer moist habitats and where they are not native, they have escaped to wetlands and riverbanks. They can tolerate partial sun and shade.

Forget-me-nots may be annual or perennial plants. Their root systems are generally diffuse. Their seeds are found in small, tulip-shaped pods along the stem to the flower. The pods attach to clothing when brushed against and eventually fall off, leaving the small seed within the pod to germinate elsewhere. Seeds can be collected by putting a piece of paper under the stems and shaking them. The seed pods and some seeds will fall out.

They are widely distributed. Most Myosotis species are indigenous to New Zealand, though one or two European species, especially the Wood Forget-me-not, Myosotis sylvatica have been introduced into most of the temperate regions of Europe, Asia and America. Myosotis scorpioides is also known as scorpion grass due to the spiraling curve of its inflorescence. Myosotis alpestris is the state flower of Alaska.

Forget-me-nots are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Setaceous Hebrew Character.

Folklore and legend

Myosotis sylvatica (Wood Forget-me-not) Postcard, dated 1907

In a German legend, God named all the plants when a tiny unnamed one cried out, "Forget-me-not, O Lord!" God replied, "That shall be your name."[2][2]

The Christ Child was sitting on Mary's lap one day and said that he wished that future generations could see her eyes. He touched her eyes and then waved his hand over the ground and blue forget-me-nots appeared, hence the name forget-me-not.

Henry IV adopted the flower as his symbol during his exile in 1398, and retained the symbol upon his return to England the following year.[2]

In 15th-century Germany, it was supposed that the wearers of the flower would not be forgotten by their lovers. Legend has it that in medieval times, a knight and his lady were walking along the side of a river. He picked a posy of flowers, but because of the weight of his armour he fell into the river. As he was drowning he threw the posy to his loved one and shouted "Forget-me-not." It was often worn by ladies as a sign of faithfulness and enduring love.

Remembrance

Prior to becoming the tenth province of Canada in 1949, Newfoundland (then a separate British Dominion) used the Forget-me-not as a symbol of remembrance of that nation's war dead. This practice is still in limited use today, though Newfoundlanders have adopted the Flanders Poppy as well.

Freemasons use the Forget-me-not to remember those masons who were victimized by the Nazi regime.[3]

In literature

Henry David Thoreau wrote, "The mouse-ear forget-me-not, Myosotis laxa, has now extended its racemes very much, and hangs over the edge of the brook. It is one of the most interesting minute flowers. It is the more beautiful for being small and unpretending; even flowers must be modest."[4]

In Evangeline, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote,

Silently, one by one, in the infinite meadows of Heaven,
Blossom the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels.

In his 1947 long poem "Notes Toward a Supreme Fiction," Wallace Stevens mentions the forget-me-not, using its scientific Greek-derived name:

...It observes the effortless weather turning blue
And sees the myosotis on its bush."

Keith Douglas, 1920–1944, wrote his poem "Vergissmeinnicht" (Forget-me-not) about a dead German soldier in World War II whose body is found by the poet with a photograph of his girl with her words written "Steffi. Vergissmeinnicht" but it's not believed by some people.[citation needed]

J.R.R. Tolkien refers to the flower in his poems. The character of Tom Bombadil is said to have the colour of the flower on his jacket (Lord of the Rings, chapter seven, book I).

Selected species

Gallery

References

  1. ^ "Myosotis". Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. 2nd ed. 1989.
  2. ^ a b c Sanders, Jack. The Secrets of Wildflowers: A Delightful Feast of Little-Known Facts, Folklore, and History. Globe Pequot, 2003. ISBN 1585746681. ISBN 978-1585746682.
  3. ^ Virtual-loi.co.uk
  4. ^ Thoreau, Henry David; Blake, Harrison Gray Otis; Emerson, Ralph Waldo; Sanborn, Franklin Benjamin (1884), The Writings of Henry David Thoreau (vol 6), p. 109, http://books.google.com/?id=_14dAAAAIAAJ
  5. ^ Secretaria Regional do Ambiente e do Mar (2008), Plantas Endémicas dos Açores: Guia da Ilha do Faial, p.8; Flowering between April and June, the maritima is herbaceous from drought coastal zone, but below 150 meters altitudes.
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Categories: Myosotis | Flowers | Garden plants

 

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