Short Description
Wood forget-me-not can grow to a height of 45 cm.
The leaves seem to grow directly out of the ground (basal) or from the stem. They are alternate. They are oval to lance-shaped and finely haired.
The stem is upright and usually with lots of branches. The plant forms overground runners.
The numerous flowers are arranged in a twisted compound flower head. Individual florets have five petals that are partially fused. Their colour is sky-blue. Buds often appear pink at first. At the centre of the flower is a yellow ring of coronal scales.
The fruit consists of four mericarps that fall apart when ripe.
Features
Wood forget-me-not
Myosotis sylvatica
small sky-blue flowers with a yellow ring
plant covered in soft hairs
Similar species
Common bugloss
Anchusa officinalis
Early forget-me-not
Myosotis ramosissima
Small bugloss
Lycopsis arvensis
In the city
The wood forget-me-not is a common plant found in urban forests, especially on forest edges and clearings. It prefers fresh to moist, nutrient- and base-rich sites with humus-rich soils.
It is a popular garden plant and is frequently planted.
Fun Facts
The yellow coronal scales are an anther-mimicking floral guide that serve to attract and direct pollinators.
Wood forget-me-not has the smallest pollen grains of all native plants. That is unusual for an insect-pollinated plant. Small pollens are generally seen in textbooks as adaptations to wind pollination.
Over the course of their development, flowers change in colour from pink to sky-blue. This is caused by a change in the flower’s pH value. The pH value increases over time and the environment within the flower cells becomes increasingly alkaline.
There is a forget-me-not cultivar with pink flowers: "Rosylva".
It flowers from May to July.
- Endangerment level Germany: not endangered
Sources
Blüten, Frank Vincentz, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Myosotis_sylvatica2_ies.jpg
Habitus, sannse, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Forget-me-not_600.jpg
Blätter, John Tann, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Myosotis_sylvatica_(14050736056).jpg
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Spohn, M., Golte-Bechtle, M. & Spohn, R. (2015) Was blüht denn da? Stuttgart: Franckh Kosmos Verlag.
Schauer, T., Caspari, C. & Caspari, S. (2015) Der illustrierte BLV-Pflanzenführer für unterwegs. 1150 Blumen, Gräser, Bäume und Sträucher, München: BLV.
Page „Wald-Vergissmeinnicht“. : Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Date of last revision: 06.06.2016, 18:11 UTC. URL: https://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wald-Vergissmeinnicht&oldid=155049136 (Accessed: 19.12.2016).