{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=July 2024}} {{use dmy dates|date=January 2020}} {{speciesbox | image = The botany of the Antarctic voyage of H.M. discovery ships Erebus and Terror in the Years 1839-1843 (6302944182).jpg | image_caption = Plate XXXVII of Hooker's ''[[Flora Antarctica]]'' | status = NU | status_system = NZTCS | status_ref =<ref name="NZTCS"/> | genus = Myosotis | species = capitata | authority = [[Joseph Dalton Hooker|Hook.f.]]<ref name=hookerBotany>Hooker, J.D. (1844) [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/3011394 The botany of the Antarctic voyage of H.M. discovery ships Erebus and Terror in the Years 1839-1843 :under the command of Captain Sir James Clark Ross: 1: 56]</ref> }} '''''Myosotis capitata''''' is a species of [[flowering plant]] in the [[Family (taxonomy)|family]] [[Boraginaceae]], [[Endemism|endemic]] to the [[Campbell Islands|Campbell]] and [[Auckland Islands]] of [[New Zealand]]. [[Joseph Dalton Hooker]] described the species in his 19th century work ''[[Flora Antarctica]]''. Plants of this species of [[forget-me-nots|forget-me-not]] are [[Perennial plant|perennial]] and erect, and have [[ebracteate]] inflorescences and blue corollas. It is one of two native species of ''Myosotis'' in the [[New Zealand Subantarctic Islands|New Zealand subantarctic islands]], the other being ''[[Myosotis antarctica|M. antarctica]],'' which can also have blue corollas''.''

== Taxonomy and etymology == ''Myosotis capitata'' [[Joseph Dalton Hooker|Hook.f.]] is in the plant family [[Boraginaceae]] and was described in 1844 by [[Joseph Dalton Hooker]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Moore |first=L.B. |title=Boraginaceae. In 'Flora of New Zealand'. (Ed. HH Allan) Vol. 1, pp. 806–833 |url=https://floraseries.landcareresearch.co.nz/pages/Taxon.aspx?id=_2dd90ab4-331f-4d49-bb31-b0a843e65931&fileName=Flora%201.xml |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=(Government Printer: Wellington, New Zealand) floraseries.landcareresearch.co.nz}}</ref><ref name="nzpcn">{{Cite web |title=Myosotis capitata {{!}} New Zealand Plant Conservation Network |url=http://nzpcn.org.nz/flora_details.aspx?ID=591 |access-date=2019-11-23 |website=nzpcn.org.nz}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> After its description, Hooker expanded the [[Circumscription (taxonomy)|circumscription]] of ''M. capitata'' to include plants from [[Stewart Island / Rakiura|Rakiura / Stewart Island]], New Zealand.<ref name=":1">Hooker JD (1853) ‘[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/54141#page/251/mode/1up The Botany of the Antarctic Voyage. II. Flora Novae-Zelandiae.]’ (Reeve: London, UK)</ref><ref name="hooker">Hooker JD (1864) ‘[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/228754#page/280/mode/1up Handbook of the New Zealand Flora. Part I.]’ (Reeve:London, UK)</ref> Joseph Beattie Armstrong described a new variety, ''M. capitata ''var.'' albiflora'' [[:es:Joseph Beattie Armstrong|J.B.Armstr.]], for the Stewart Island plants and other similar fleshy, white-flowered plants from southern [[South Island]], New Zealand, for which the name ''[[Myosotis rakiura|M. rakiura]]'' [[Lucy Moore (botanist)|L.B.Moore]] is now used.<ref>Armstrong JB (1881) [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/107151#page/411/mode/1up Descriptions of new and rare New Zealand plants. ''Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute'' 13, 335–343].</ref><ref>Moore LB (1961) [https://floraseries.landcareresearch.co.nz/pages/ElectronicFormat.aspx?fileName=Flora%201.xml Boraginaceae. In ‘Flora of New Zealand’. (Ed. HH Allan) Vol. 1, pp. 806–833.] (Government Printer: Wellington, New Zealand)</ref> ''Myosotis capitata'' can be distinguished from ''M. rakiura'' in its blue corollas, lack of retrorse trichomes anywhere on the plant, including the underside of the leaves, and partially exserted anthers.<ref name="Meudt">{{Cite journal |last=Meudt |first=Heidi M. |date=2021-04-30 |title=Taxonomic revision of five species groups of ebracteate-erect Myosotis (Boraginaceae) endemic to New Zealand, based on morphology, and description of new subspecies |url=https://www.publish.csiro.au/sb/SB20028 |journal=Australian Systematic Botany |language=en |volume=34 |issue=3 |pages=252–304 |doi=10.1071/SB20028 |s2cid=234771910 |issn=1446-5701|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The type specimen of ''Myosotis capitata'' is lodged at [[Kew Herbarium]].<ref name="Meudt" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022 |title=Myosotis capitata Hook.f. |url=http://apps.kew.org/herbcat/detailsQuery.do?barcode=K000787889 |access-date=2022-04-25 |website=apps.kew.org}}</ref>

The specific epithet, ''capitata'', derives from the Latin, ''caput/capitis,'' meaning "head" and hence describes the plant as having its flowers arranged in tightly compacted, head-like inflorescences.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.plantillustrations.org/epithet.php?id_epithet=212236%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class=|title=capitatus,-a,-um|website=www.plantillustrations.org|access-date=2020-01-11}}</ref>

== Phylogeny == ''Myosotis capitata'' was shown to be a part of the [[monophyletic]] southern hemisphere lineage of ''Myosotis'' in [[Phylogenetics|phylogenetic]] analyses of standard DNA sequencing markers ([[Ribosomal DNA|nuclear ribosomal DNA]] and [[chloroplast DNA]] regions).<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last1=Winkworth |first1=Richard C |last2=Grau |first2=Jürke |last3=Robertson |first3=Alastair W |last4=Lockhart |first4=Peter J |date=2002-08-01 |title=The origins and evolution of the genus Myosotis L. (Boraginaceae) |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1055790302002105 |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |language=en |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=180–193 |doi=10.1016/S1055-7903(02)00210-5 |pmid=12144755 |issn=1055-7903|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Meudt |first1=Heidi M. |last2=Prebble |first2=Jessica M. |last3=Lehnebach |first3=Carlos A. |date=2015-05-01 |title=Native New Zealand forget-me-nots (Myosotis, Boraginaceae) comprise a Pleistocene species radiation with very low genetic divergence |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-014-1166-x |journal=Plant Systematics and Evolution |language=en |volume=301 |issue=5 |pages=1455–1471 |doi=10.1007/s00606-014-1166-x |s2cid=254048318 |issn=2199-6881|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Within the southern hemisphere lineage, species relationships were not well resolved.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":0" /> The sequences of ''M. capitata'' are not that similar to the other native subantarctic species, ''[[Myosotis antarctica|M. antarctica]],'' and the sole individual of ''M. capitata'' sampled formed a unique lineage in the chloroplast DNA network.<ref name=":0" />

== Description == [[File:Myosotis capitata Hook.fil. (K000787888).jpg|thumb|Type specimen of ''Myosotis capitata'' collected at "Lord Auckland's group" ([[Auckland Islands]]) likely by Joseph Dalton Hooker during the [[Ross expedition]].]] ''Myosotis capitata'' plants are small rosettes that may cluster together into tufts or loose clumps. The rosette leaves have [[Petiole (botany)|petioles]] 8–25&nbsp;mm long. The rosette leaf blades are 13–48&nbsp;mm long by 4–19&nbsp;mm wide (length: width ratio 1.5–4.2: 1), elliptic, oblanceolate or narrowly obovate, widest at or above the middle, with an [[Glossary of leaf morphology#obtuse|obtuse]] apex. The upper surface of the leaf is densely covered in long silky forward-facing hairs, while on the lower surface the hairs are shorter, fewer and also forward-facing. Each rosette has 2–7 ascending to erect, branched, ebracteate [[inflorescence]]s that are up to 37&nbsp;cm long. The cauline leaves on the lower part of the inflorescence are similar to the rosette leaves, and decrease in size toward the tip. There can be up to 150 flowers condensed near the top of each inflorescence. Although the flowers are borne on short [[Pedicel (botany)|pedicels]], they do not have bracts. The calyx is 2–4&nbsp;mm long at flowering and 4–6&nbsp;mm long at fruiting, lobed to half or more of its length, and densely covered in long, forward-facing silky hairs. The corolla is deep blue, up to 10&nbsp;mm in diameter, with a cylindrical tube, petals that are rounded and flat, and small yellow scales alternating with the petals. The anthers are partly exserted, with the tips only surpassing the scales. The four smooth, shiny, black nutlets are 1.4–2.1&nbsp;mm long by 1.0–1.7&nbsp;mm wide and ovoid in shape.<ref name="Meudt" />

The chromosome number of ''M. capitata'' is 2''n'' = 46.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Beuzenberg |first1=EJ |last2=Hair |first2=J |date=1983 |title=Contributions to a chromosome atlas of the New Zealand flora - 25 miscellaneous species. |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/0028825X.1983.10428520 |journal=New Zealand Journal of Botany |volume=21 |pages=13–20|doi=10.1080/0028825X.1983.10428520 |doi-broken-date=12 July 2025 }}</ref>

It flowers and fruits from November to February.<ref name="Meudt" />

==Distribution and habitat== ''Myosotis capitata'' is a [[forget-me-not]] endemic to the Auckland Islands and Campbell Island, New Zealand. On the Auckland Islands, it has been collected on [[Auckland Island]], [[Adams Island, New Zealand|Adams Island]] and [[Ewing Island (New Zealand)|Ewing Island]].<ref name="Meudt" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-03-06 |title=What happens when you ask ornithologists to do botany |url=https://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/2018/03/06/what-happens-when-you-ask-ornithologists-to-do-botany/ |access-date=2022-04-25 |website=Te Papa’s Blog |language=en-NZ}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Australasian Virtual Herbarium |url=https://avh.ala.org.au/occurrences/search?fq=&pageSize=100&taxa=myosotis%20capitata#tab_mapView |access-date=2022-04-26 |website=avh.ala.org.au |language=en-AU}}</ref> It is found from sea level up to altitudes of 630m, on the shore edge, rocks, bluffs or cliffs in exposed [[fellfield]] or banks with sparse vegetation.<ref name="nzpcn"/><ref name="Meudt"/>

== Conservation status == The species is listed as "At Risk - Naturally Uncommon" on the most recent assessment (2017-2018) under the [[New Zealand Threat Classification System|New Zealand Threatened Classification]] system for plants, because of its range which is restricted to certain subantarctic islands.<ref name="NZTCS">{{Cite journal|last1=Lange|first1=Peter J. de|last2=Rolfe|first2=Jeremy R.|last3=Barkla|first3=John W.|last4=Courtney|first4=Shannel P.|last5=Champion|first5=Paul D.|last6=Perrie|first6=Leon R.|last7=Beadel|first7=Sarah M.|last8=Ford|first8=Kerry A.|last9=Breitwieser|first9=Ilse|last10=Schönberger|first10=Ines|last11=Hindmarsh-Walls|first11=Rowan|date=May 2018|title=Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017|url=https://www.doc.govt.nz/globalassets/documents/science-and-technical/nztcs22entire.pdf|journal=New Zealand Threat Classification Series|volume=22|pages=45|oclc=1041649797}}</ref><ref name="Meudt" />

== Gallery == <gallery heights="150px" mode="packed-hover" style="margin-top:3em;"> Myosotis capitata (14156894486).jpg Myosotis capitata (13993419358).jpg Myosotis capitata (14200185403).jpg </gallery>

==References== {{Reflist|refs=

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==External links== *{{commons category-inline}} *[https://avh.ala.org.au/occurrences/search?taxa=myosotis+capitata#tab_mapView ''Myosotis capitata'' occurrence data from Australasian Virtual Herbarium]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q17416580}}

[[Category:Myosotis|capitata]] [[Category:Endemic flora of New Zealand]] [[Category:Endangered flora of New Zealand]] [[Category:Taxa named by Joseph Dalton Hooker]] [[Category:Plants described in 1844]]