{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2025}} {{speciesbox |image = Myosotis scorpioides - Niitvälja bog.jpg |status = {{TNCStatus}} |status_system = TNC |status_ref = <ref name="NatureServe">{{cite web |last1=NatureServe |title=''Myosotis scorpioides'' |url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.145707/Myosotis_scorpioides |access-date=15 November 2023 |location=Arlington, Virginia |date=2023 |archive-date=11 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240611185246/https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.145707/Myosotis_scorpioides |url-status=live }}</ref> |genus = Myosotis |species = scorpioides |authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|L.]] | synonyms_ref = <ref>{{Cite web |title=''Myosotis scorpioides'' subsp. ''scorpioides'' |url=http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77222980-1 |access-date=11 December 2021 |work=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Kew Science |archive-date=11 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211211103410/https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77222980-1 |url-status=live }}</ref> | synonyms = {{Collapsible list| * ''Echioides palustris'' <small>Moench</small> * ''Echioides perennis'' <small>Moench</small> * ''Myosotis adpressa'' <small>Stokes</small> * ''Myosotis aspera'' <small>Lamotte</small> * ''Myosotis coronaria'' <small>Dumort.</small> * ''Myosotis dumortieri'' <small>Thielens</small> * ''Myosotis geniculata'' <small>Schur</small> * ''Myosotis laxiflora'' <small>Rchb.</small> * ''Myosotis multiflora'' <small>Mérat</small> * ''Myosotis oraria'' <small>Dumort.</small> * ''Myosotis palustris'' <small>(L.) Hill</small> * ''Myosotis palustris'' subsp. ''eupalustris'' <small>Hyl.</small> * ''Myosotis palustris'' var. ''subglabrata'' <small>Polozhij</small> * ''Myosotis perennis'' <small>Moench</small> * ''Myosotis scabra'' <small>Simonk.</small> * ''Myosotis scorpioides'' var. ''palustris'' <small>L.</small> * ''Myosotis scorpioides'' subsp. ''palustris'' <small>(L.) F.Herm.</small> * ''Myosotis scorpiurus'' <small>Reichard</small> * ''Myosotis serotina'' <small>Hülph.</small> * ''Myosotis strigulosa'' <small>Rchb.</small> * ''Scorpioides glaber'' <small>Gilib.</small> }}}}
'''''Myosotis scorpioides''''' ([[syn.]] ''Myosotis palustris''),<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-0000368596 |title=''Myosotis scorpioides'' L. |year=2025 |website=The World Flora Online |publisher=World Flora Online Consortium |access-date=28 June 2025 }}</ref> the '''true forget-me-not''' or '''water forget-me-not''', is a [[Myosotis|forget-me-not]] plant species in the borage family, [[Boraginaceae]].
== Distribution and habitat == This [[herbaceous]] [[perennial plant]] is native to Europe and Asia, but is widely distributed elsewhere, including much of North America, as an [[introduced species]] and sometimes a [[noxious weed]]. The plant is common and widespread in Britain, but is very rare in Jersey.<ref name="Stace-2019">{{cite book |last=Stace |first=C. A. |author-link=Stace, C. A. |year=2019 |title=New Flora of the British Isles |edition=Fourth |publisher=C & M Floristics |location=Middlewood Green, Suffolk, U.K. |isbn=978-1-5272-2630-2 }}</ref>{{rp|596}}
The plant is usually found in damp or wet habitats, such as bogs, ponds, streams, ditches, fen and rivers.<ref name="Online Atlas">{{Cite web |url=http://www.brc.ac.uk/plantatlas/index.php?q=node/1653 |title=''Myosotis scorpioides'' (Water Forget-me-not) {{!}} Online Atlas of the British and Irish Flora |website=www.brc.ac.uk |language=en |access-date=16 May 2017 |archive-date=9 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809093749/https://www.brc.ac.uk/plantatlas/index.php?q=node/1653 |url-status=live }}</ref> Whilst it favours wet ground, it can survive submerged in water, and often can form floating rafts.<ref name="Online Atlas" />
== Description == It is an erect to ascending plant of up to {{Convert|70|cm|abbr=on}}, bearing small (8–12 mm) flowers pink in bud, becoming blue when fully open, with yellow centers and white honey guides. The plant is distinguished by its long style. The leaves are oblong to linear and pubescent on both sides. It blooms from mid-spring to first frost in temperate climates.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.luontoportti.com/suomi/en/kukkakasvit/water-forget-me-not |title=Water Forget-me-not, ''Myosotis scorpioides'' - Flowers - NatureGate |website=www.luontoportti.com |language=en |access-date=16 May 2017 |archive-date=12 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512082403/https://www.luontoportti.com/suomi/en/kukkakasvit/water-forget-me-not |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Stace-2019" />
''Myosotis scorpioides'' is also known as '''water scorpion grass''' due to the spiraling curve of its inflorescence in the form of a [[inflorescence#Simple inflorescences|scorpioid cyme]]. Its corolla is tubular, nectar collected at the base is sucked by pollinating animals like insects and small birds.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Weryszko-Chmielewska |first1=Elżbieta |last2=Sulborska-Różycka |first2=Aneta |date=March 2025 |title=''Myosotis scorpioides'' L. (Boraginaceae) floral nectary: Micromorphology, fluorescence, and ultrastructure |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0968432824001902 |journal=Micron |volume=190 |article-number=103773 |doi=10.1016/j.micron.2024.103773 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>{{pn |date=June 2025}}
== Historical and cultural impact == According to an old European legend, the flower got its name from an incident where a knight and his betrothed were walking along the water when they spotted the flowers. The lady expressed her wish to have one of the beautiful flowers and the knight went to carry out his beloved's wish. But as the knight reached for them, he fell into the water. He grasped at the flowers growing along the water's edge and as he drowned he called out "Forget me not!"<ref>{{Cite book |last=Folkard |first=Richard |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Plant_Lore_Legends_and_Lyrics/MzslAQAAMAAJ?hl=sv&gbpv=1&dq=forgetmenot+legend+knight&pg=PA342&printsec=frontcover |title=Plant Lore, Legends, and Lyrics: Embracing the Myths, Traditions, Superstitions, and Folk-lore of the Plant Kingdom |date=1884 |publisher=S. Low, Marston, Searle, and Rivington |language=en}}</ref> The flower is the [[Province flowers of Sweden|province flower]] of [[Dalsland]] since 1908.
== Gallery == <gallery mode="packed"> File:Myosotis scorpioides PID1155-3.jpg|Whole plant File:Myosotis scorpioides LC0184.jpg|Flowers File:Myosotis scorpioides blatt.jpeg|Leaves File:Illustration Myosotis scorpioides0.jpg|Plate 487 from Thomé's {{Lang|de|Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz}} (1885) File:Anna Munthe-Norstedt Still life with irises and forget-me-nots.jpg|Anna Munthe-Norstedt, ''Still life with irises and forget-me-nots'' (1922) File:Water Forget-Me-Not (Myosotis scorpioides) in Pennsylvania.jpg|Water Forget-Me-Not (''Myosotis scorpioides'') in Pennsylvania File:Cranach the Elder Girl with forget-me-nots (detail) 01.jpg|Detail from [[Cranach the Elder]]'s ''Girl with forget-me-nots'' </gallery>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links== * {{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=4 October 2024 |title=''Myosotis scorpioides'' L., Jepson Interchange |url=https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_cpn?Myosotis%20scorpioides |website=[[University_and_Jepson_Herbaria#Jepson_Herbarium|Jepson Flora Project]] |location=Berkeley, CA |publisher=[[The Regents of the University of California]] |access-date=26 June 2025 }} * {{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=1 March 2015 |title=''Myosotis scorpioides'' |url=http://www.ct-botanical-society.org/galleries/myosotisscor.html |website=ct-botanical-society.org |location=New Haven, CT |publisher=Connecticut Botanical Society |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210610040639/http://www.ct-botanical-society.org/Plants/view/399 |archive-date=10 June 2021 |access-date=26 June 2025 }} * {{cite web |author=<!-- not stated/multiple photo contributors --> |date= |title=''Myosotis scorpioides'' |url=http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&where-taxon=Myosotis+scorpioides |website=CalPhotos |location=Berkeley, CA |publisher=Berkeley Natural History Museums |access-date=26 June 2025 }}
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[[Category:Myosotis|scorpioides]] [[Category:Plants described in 1753]] [[Category:Botanical taxa named by Carl Linnaeus]]