Species

Myosotis scorpioides var. strigulosa

Etymology

Myosotis: mouse-eared

Common Name(s)

water forget-me-not

Authority

Myosotis scorpioides L.

Family

Boraginaceae

Brief Description

Low growing herb on wet ground and damp hollows. Leaves are pale green, stems often bend at the base and leaves are willow like. The flowers are small, pale blue with a yellow center.

Flora Category

Vascular - Exotic

NVS Species Code

MYOSCO

The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Herbs other than Composites

Synonyms

Myosotis scorpioides

Distribution

Throughout NZ.

Habitat

Margins and ponds, wet hollows.

Features

Plants are 20 to 60 cm tall, and often forms new plants at the nodes (stolons). Leaves are narrow, alternate and attached dierctly to the stem and have pointed or rounded tips with a prominent mid-vein. Flowers are 5 to 10 mm wide. The base of the petals forms a tube longer than the length of the petal lobes. Pedicels at fruiting are 1 to 2 times the length of the calyx. Nutlets (4) are black.

Similar Taxa

Very similar to M. laxa subsp. caespitosa, but the corolla is usualy wider than 4mm.

Flowering

November to May

Flower Colours

Blue,Yellow

Fruiting

Autumn

Year Naturalised

1878

Origin

Europe

Reason for Introduction

Ornamental pond and garden plant

Control Techniques

Can be controlled manually, mechanically or herbicidally depending on situation.

Life Cycle and Dispersal

Mainly seed dispersal by water movement and animals contaminated with hooked persistent calyx surrounding seed.

Attribution

Factsheet prepared by Paul Champion and Deborah Hofstra (NIWA).

References and further reading

 Johnson PN, Brooke PA (1989).  Wetland plants in New Zealand.   DSIR Field Guide, DSIR Publishing, Wellington. 319pp.

Popay et al (2010).  An illustrated guide to common weeds of New Zealand, third edition.  NZ Plant Protection Society Inc, 416pp.

WSDE (2001).  An aquatic plant identification manual for Washington's freshwater plants.  Washington State Department of Ecology, 195pp.

This page last updated on 21 Aug 2013