Forget-Me-Not Identification Guide

Key Identifying Features

Forget-me-not (Myosotis species) is a low, soft-haired plant in the borage family (Boraginaceae). It is identified by clusters of very small, flat, five-petaled sky-blue flowers each with a small yellow or white center (eye), borne on stems whose flower clusters uncoil like a fiddlehead as they bloom.

• Tiny flowers (under 1/3 inch) with five rounded petals
• Clear sky-blue petals with a contrasting yellow/white ring at the center
• Flower clusters coiled at the tip, straightening as flowers open
• Soft, hairy, oblong leaves and a low spreading habit

Leaves & Stems

Leaves are alternate, oblong to spoon-shaped (lance-like), and covered in soft hairs, giving them a slightly grayish, fuzzy feel. They are usually 1-3 inches long, with smooth edges and no stalk on the upper stem. Stems are weak, branching, hairy, and somewhat sprawling, forming low mounds 6-12 inches high. The hairiness is typical of the borage family.

Flowers & Fruit

The flowers are the giveaway. Each is a small, flat, saucer-shaped bloom with five rounded petals, typically a clear sky-blue (sometimes pink in bud or white/pink forms), centered on a tiny yellow, white, or pinkish eye. Flowers are clustered at the stem tips in a scorpioid cyme, a curled spray that unrolls as new flowers open, so buds are pink and crowded at the coiled tip while open blue flowers trail behind. After bloom, each flower forms four tiny smooth nutlets that cling to clothing and fur.

How to Tell It Apart from Look-Alikes

• Speedwell (Veronica): also small and blue, but flowers have four unequal petals (not five) and are usually held in upright spikes.
• Brunnera (Siberian bugloss): very similar blue flowers but with large heart-shaped leaves.
• Borage: related, with bigger star-shaped blue flowers and coarse bristly leaves.
• Chinese forget-me-not (Cynoglossum): larger, taller, with similar blue flowers but bigger leaves.

The combination of tiny five-petaled sky-blue flowers with a yellow eye in unrolling coiled clusters over soft hairy leaves confirms forget-me-not.

Where You'll Find It

Myosotis species are native to temperate Europe and Asia and naturalized widely. You will find them in damp meadows, stream banks, woodland edges, and shady moist garden beds, where they often form spreading carpets in spring. Water forget-me-not grows in wet ground and pond margins. They prefer cool, moist, partly shaded conditions and self-seed readily.

Quick ID Checklist

• Tiny five-petaled flat flowers under 1/3 inch
• Sky-blue petals with a yellow or white central eye
• Flower sprays coiled at the tip, unrolling as they open
• Soft, hairy, oblong leaves
• Low, sprawling, mounding habit in moist shade