Size Matters

Day 270: Just to be sure we're all on the same page here: Washington has two native forget-me-nots and at least six introductions from Europe/Eurasia. One of our two natives grows only in moist places, and although its common name ("Small Forget-me-not")suggests that it is smaller than its European cousins, the flower is close to the same size. Our other native (above) better deserves the name "Small," but that is not its designation. Myosotis verna is truly tiny. It is called simply "Early Forget-me-not" or "Spring Forget-me-not," or by either adjective followed by "Scorpion-grass." This mini-Myosotis is weedy in habit, growing in moist or dry waste soils, its wiry stems remarkably tough despite their small diameter. Like other Myosotis species, its seed capsules are small burrs which attach readily to socks and bootlaces as well as animal fur. Native or not, after you've picked a few hundred of them off your clothing, you'll be inclined to call this forget-me-not a weed.