Wood Forget-me-not

Description

Myosotis sylvatica, the wood forget-me-not or woodland forget-me-not, is a species of flowering plant in the family Boraginaceae, native to Europe. This spring-flowering plant and its cultivars, typically with blue flowers, are the familiar forget-me-nots of gardens. It is a short-lived herbaceous perennial plant, growing to 12–30 cm (5–12 in) tall by 15 cm (6 in) wide, with hairy leaves and a profusion of flowers with petals longer than their tube, pink in bud then opening disc-shaped, intensely sky-blue with yellow centres in spring. Stace (2011) describes this plant as having the following characteristics: Upright, to 50 cm; softly hairy, with hairs at more-or-less right-angles to the main stem. Flowers sky-blue, to 6–10 mm across, flat in profile; sepal tube with hooked hairs; April–July. Mature fruit dark brown, shiny. Mature calyx on spreading stalks longer than sepal tube; calyx teeth spreading to expose the ripe fruit. Basal leaves stalked, in a rosette; upper leaves not stalked. Generally found in woods, scree and rock ledges; common throughout the British Isles.