# Myosotis scorpioides

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Myosotis_scorpioides
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Myosotis_scorpioides.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myosotis_scorpioides
> Source revision: 1355712021
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

Species of flowering plant

Myosotis scorpioides Conservation status Secure (NatureServe)[1] Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae Clade: Embryophytes Clade: Tracheophytes Clade: Spermatophytes Clade: Angiosperms Clade: Eudicots Clade: Asterids Order: Boraginales Family: Boraginaceae Genus: Myosotis Species: M. scorpioides Binomial name Myosotis scorpioides L. Synonyms[2] List Echioides palustris Moench Echioides perennis Moench Myosotis adpressa Stokes Myosotis aspera Lamotte Myosotis coronaria Dumort. Myosotis dumortieri Thielens Myosotis geniculata Schur Myosotis laxiflora Rchb. Myosotis multiflora Mérat Myosotis oraria Dumort. Myosotis palustris (L.) Hill Myosotis palustris subsp. eupalustris Hyl. Myosotis palustris var. subglabrata Polozhij Myosotis perennis Moench Myosotis scabra Simonk. Myosotis scorpioides var. palustris L. Myosotis scorpioides subsp. palustris (L.) F.Herm. Myosotis scorpiurus Reichard Myosotis serotina Hülph. Myosotis strigulosa Rchb. Scorpioides glaber Gilib.

***Myosotis scorpioides*** ([syn.](/source/Syn.) *Myosotis palustris*),[3] the **true forget-me-not** or **water forget-me-not**, is a [forget-me-not](/source/Myosotis) plant species in the borage family, [Boraginaceae](/source/Boraginaceae).

## Distribution and habitat

This [herbaceous](/source/Herbaceous) [perennial plant](/source/Perennial_plant) is native to Europe and Asia, but is widely distributed elsewhere, including much of North America, as an [introduced species](/source/Introduced_species) and sometimes a [noxious weed](/source/Noxious_weed). The plant is common and widespread in Britain, but is very rare in Jersey.[4]: 596

The plant is usually found in damp or wet habitats, such as bogs, ponds, streams, ditches, fen and rivers.[5] Whilst it favours wet ground, it can survive submerged in water, and often can form floating rafts.[5]

## Description

It is an erect to ascending plant of up to 70 cm (28 in), 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.[6][4]

*Myosotis scorpioides* is also known as **water scorpion grass** due to the spiraling curve of its inflorescence in the form of a [scorpioid cyme](/source/Inflorescence#Simple_inflorescences). Its corolla is tubular, nectar collected at the base is sucked by pollinating animals like insects and small birds.[7][*[page needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources)*]

## 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!"[8] The flower is the [province flower](/source/Province_flowers_of_Sweden) of [Dalsland](/source/Dalsland) since 1908.

## Gallery

		- Whole plant

		- Flowers

		- Leaves

		- Plate 487 from Thomé's *Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz* (1885)

		- Anna Munthe-Norstedt, *Still life with irises and forget-me-nots* (1922)

		- Water Forget-Me-Not (*Myosotis scorpioides*) in Pennsylvania

		- Detail from [Cranach the Elder](/source/Cranach_the_Elder)'s *Girl with forget-me-nots*

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-NatureServe_1-0)** NatureServe (2023). ["*Myosotis scorpioides*"](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.145707/Myosotis_scorpioides). Arlington, Virginia. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20240611185246/https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.145707/Myosotis_scorpioides) from the original on 11 June 2024. Retrieved 15 November 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["*Myosotis scorpioides* subsp. *scorpioides*"](http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77222980-1). *Plants of the World Online*. Kew Science. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20211211103410/https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77222980-1) from the original on 11 December 2021. Retrieved 11 December 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["*Myosotis scorpioides* L."](https://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-0000368596) *The World Flora Online*. World Flora Online Consortium. 2025. Retrieved 28 June 2025.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Stace-2019_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Stace-2019_4-1) [Stace, C. A.](/source/Stace%2C_C._A.) (2019). *New Flora of the British Isles* (Fourth ed.). Middlewood Green, Suffolk, U.K.: C & M Floristics. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-5272-2630-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-5272-2630-2).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Online_Atlas_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Online_Atlas_5-1) ["*Myosotis scorpioides* (Water Forget-me-not) | Online Atlas of the British and Irish Flora"](http://www.brc.ac.uk/plantatlas/index.php?q=node/1653). *www.brc.ac.uk*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200809093749/https://www.brc.ac.uk/plantatlas/index.php?q=node/1653) from the original on 9 August 2020. Retrieved 16 May 2017.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Water Forget-me-not, *Myosotis scorpioides* - Flowers - NatureGate"](http://www.luontoportti.com/suomi/en/kukkakasvit/water-forget-me-not). *www.luontoportti.com*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210512082403/https://www.luontoportti.com/suomi/en/kukkakasvit/water-forget-me-not) from the original on 12 May 2021. Retrieved 16 May 2017.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Weryszko-Chmielewska, Elżbieta; Sulborska-Różycka, Aneta (March 2025). ["*Myosotis scorpioides* L. (Boraginaceae) floral nectary: Micromorphology, fluorescence, and ultrastructure"](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0968432824001902). *Micron*. **190** 103773. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1016/j.micron.2024.103773](https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.micron.2024.103773).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Folkard, Richard (1884). [*Plant Lore, Legends, and Lyrics: Embracing the Myths, Traditions, Superstitions, and Folk-lore of the Plant Kingdom*](https://www.google.com/books/edition/Plant_Lore_Legends_and_Lyrics/MzslAQAAMAAJ?hl=sv&gbpv=1&dq=forgetmenot+legend+knight&pg=PA342&printsec=frontcover). S. Low, Marston, Searle, and Rivington.

## External links

- ["*Myosotis scorpioides* L., Jepson Interchange"](https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_cpn?Myosotis%20scorpioides). *[Jepson Flora Project](/source/University_and_Jepson_Herbaria#Jepson_Herbarium)*. Berkeley, CA: [The Regents of the University of California](/source/The_Regents_of_the_University_of_California). 4 October 2024. Retrieved 26 June 2025.

- ["*Myosotis scorpioides*"](https://web.archive.org/web/20210610040639/http://www.ct-botanical-society.org/Plants/view/399). *ct-botanical-society.org*. New Haven, CT: Connecticut Botanical Society. 1 March 2015. Archived from [the original](http://www.ct-botanical-society.org/galleries/myosotisscor.html) on 10 June 2021. Retrieved 26 June 2025.

- ["*Myosotis scorpioides*"](http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&where-taxon=Myosotis+scorpioides). *CalPhotos*. Berkeley, CA: Berkeley Natural History Museums. Retrieved 26 June 2025.

Taxon identifiers Myosotis scorpioides Wikidata: Q147165 Wikispecies: Myosotis scorpioides APA: 5528 APDB: 162277 APNI: 107397 BioLib: 40713 Calflora: 5725 CoL: 4564N EoL: 580087 EPPO: MYOPA EUNIS: 161951 FNA: 242416864 GBIF: 5341184 GRIN: 24815 iNaturalist: 49130 IPA: 6071 IPNI: 119235-1 IRMNG: 11035046 ITIS: 31697 MichiganFlora: 587 MoBotPF: 278003 NAS: 2686 NatureServe: 2.145707 NBN: NBNSYS0000004005 NCBI: 519065 NZOR: 8ba746a0-7dcb-4084-9afc-ec327a147e4c Open Tree of Life: 89325 PalDat: Myosotis_palustris Plant List: kew-2358330 PLANTS: MYSC POWO: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:119235-1 RHS: 11292 Tropicos: 4001305 VASCAN: 3805 WisFlora: 4301 WFO: wfo-0000368596

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Myosotis scorpioides](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myosotis_scorpioides) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myosotis_scorpioides?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.