Forget me Nots - Leeds Castle, Kent, England - Sunday June 22nd 2008.
For my wonderful friend and Bokeh addict Sherry...see her awesome images here - www.flickr.com/photos/8545275@N06/ - Hope your weekends going well my friend, too bad the YS won the 2nd game though..Oh well...we can't have everything in life..lol..:O)))
Myosotis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Boraginaceae that are commonly called Forget-me-nots.
There are about fifty species in the genus, with considerable variation. A considerable number of the species have small (1 cm diameter or less) rather flat 5-petalled blue flower growing profusely on straggly stems, flowering in spring. Colour variation is somewhat frequent within species, and white or pink forms are common. They are popular in gardens, and cultivated forms often show a mixture of colours. Forget-me-nots prefer shade.
Forget-me-nots can be annual or perennial plants. Their root systems are generally diffuse. Their seeds are found in small, tulip shaped pods along the stem to the flower. The pods attach to clothing when brushed against and eventually fall off, leaving the small seed within to germinate elsewhere. Seeds can be collected by putting a piece of paper under the stems and shaking them. The seed pods and some seeds will fall out.
They are widely distributed. Most Myosotis species are endemic to New Zealand, though one or two European species, especially the Wood Forget-me-not, Myosotis sylvatica have been introduced in most of the temperate regions of Europe, Asia and America. Myosotis scorpioides is also known as scorpion grass.
In the United States of America, Myosotis alpestris is the state flower of Alaska. Forget-me-nots are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Setaceous Hebrew Character.
The name was borrowed from Old French "ne m'oubliez pas" and first used in English in c.1532. Loans and translations of it can be found in most European and some non-European languages, like German "Vergissmeinnicht", Italian "Nontiscordardimé", Polish "Niezapominajka", Slovak "Nezábudky", Danish "Forglem-mig-ej", Icelandic "Gleym-mér-ei", Swedish "Förgätmigej", Dutch "vergeet-mij-nietje", Spanish "no-me-olvides", Russian "Незабудки", Bulgarian “Незабравки”, Lithuanian "Neužmirštuolės", Greek "Μη με λησμονείς" (also connected to the people who died during the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus), Esperanto "neforgesumino", Chinese "勿忘草" (Mandarin: wù wàng cǎo), Korean "물망초" (勿忘草, mul mang cho), Japanese "勿忘草" (Wasurenagusa), Hebrew "זכריני" (Zichrini), Hungarian "Nefelejcs", Turkish "Unutma Beni", Albanian "Lule-mos-me-harro", Czech "Pomněnka" etc.
In the 15th century Germany, it was supposed that the wearers of the flower would not be forgotten by their lovers.
Legend has it that in medieval times, a knight and his lady were walking along the side of a river. He picked a posy of flowers, but because of the weight of his armour he fell into the river. As he was drowning he threw the posy to his loved one and shouted "Forget-me-not". This is a flower connected with romance and tragic fate. It was often worn by ladies as a sign of faithfulness and enduring love.
It is also told in pious legend that the Christ Child was sitting on Mary's lap one day and said that he wished that future generations could see her eyes. He touched her eyes and then waved his hand over the ground and blue forget-me-nots appeared, hence the name forget-me-not.