Myosotis laxaLehm.

Tufted Forget-Me-Notbay forget-me-notsmall-flower forget-me-not

WFO wfo-0000368476 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Myosotis laxa, photographed by Mary K. Hanson
fig. a Mary K. Hanson, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-05-30 / obs. 201946370

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

The specimen a real sheet, in a real collection

Herbarium
The New York Botanical Garden
Accession
2433656
Filed as
Myosotis laxa Lehm.
Det. by
D. E. Atha 2015-01-01
Collected
G. V. Nash 1896-05-30
Origin
US
The sheet
View the digitised specimen (CC BY 4.0)

A real pressed plant, in a real collection, under the accession number above. Not an illustration of one. The holding institution does not serve this sheet’s image to third parties, so there is no photograph here. The record is real and the link goes to it. Where we hold no openly licensed sheet for a species this section is simply absent, and where a sheet never recorded who determined it, that field stays empty rather than being filled in. Roughly half of all herbarium sheets never recorded a determiner, which is ordinary.

Native range 111 botanical countries

Regions where Myosotis laxa is native: Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Altay, Amur, Buryatiya, China North-Central, China South-Central, Chita, Inner Mongolia, Irkutsk, Kamchatka, Kazakhstan, Khabarovsk, Kirgizstan, Krasnoyarsk, Kuril Is., Lebanon-Syria, Manchuria, Mongolia, North Caucasus, Palestine, Primorye, Sakhalin, Tadzhikistan, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Tuva, Uzbekistan, West Siberia, Xinjiang, Yakutiya, Yemen, Nepal, Pakistan, West Himalaya, Albania, Austria, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Corse, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, East European Russia, Finland, Føroyar, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Krym, Netherlands, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Portugal, Romania, South European Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine, Alberta, British Columbia, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Newfoundland, North Carolina, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Prince Edward I., Québec, Rhode I., Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming AlgeriaMoroccoTunisiaAltayAmurBuryatiyaChina North-CentralChina South-CentralChitaInner MongoliaIrkutskKamchatkaKazakhstanKhabarovskKirgizstanKrasnoyarskLebanon-SyriaManchuriaMongoliaNorth CaucasusPalestinePrimoryeSakhalinTadzhikistanTranscaucasusTürkiyeTuvaUzbekistanWest SiberiaXinjiangYakutiyaYemenNepalPakistanWest HimalayaAlbaniaAustriaBaltic StatesBelarusBelgiumBulgariaCentral European RussiaCorseCzechia-SlovakiaDenmarkEast European RussiaFinlandFranceGermanyGreeceHungaryIrelandItalyKrymNetherlandsNorth European RussiaNorthwest European RussiaNorwayNW. Balkan Pen.PolandPortugalRomaniaSouth European RussiaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandTürkiye-in-EuropeUkraineAlbertaBritish ColumbiaCaliforniaConnecticutGeorgiaIdahoIndianaKentuckyMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew BrunswickNew HampshireNew JerseyNew YorkNewfoundlandNorth CarolinaNova ScotiaOhioOntarioOregonPennsylvaniaPrince Edward I.QuébecTennesseeUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinWyoming FøroyarDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaRhode I.
Native distribution of Myosotis laxa, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Alberta ABT NORTHERN AMERICA
British Columbia BRC
California CAL
Connecticut CNT
Delaware DEL
District of Columbia WDC
Georgia GEO
Idaho IDA
Indiana INI
Kentucky KTY
Maine MAI
Maryland MRY
Massachusetts MAS
Michigan MIC
Minnesota MIN
Montana MNT
Nebraska NEB
Nevada NEV
New Brunswick NBR
New Hampshire NWH
New Jersey NWJ
New York NWY
Newfoundland NFL
North Carolina NCA
Nova Scotia NSC
Ohio OHI
Ontario ONT
Oregon ORE
Pennsylvania PEN
Prince Edward I. PEI
Québec QUE
Rhode I. RHO
Tennessee TEN
Utah UTA
Vermont VER
Virginia VRG
Washington WAS
West Virginia WVA
Wisconsin WIS
Wyoming WYO
Albania ALB EUROPE
Austria AUT
Baltic States BLT
Belarus BLR
Belgium BGM
Bulgaria BUL
Central European Russia RUC
Corse COR
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
Denmark DEN
East European Russia RUE
Finland FIN
Føroyar FOR
France FRA
Germany GER
Great Britain GRB
Greece GRC
Hungary HUN
Ireland IRE
Italy ITA
Krym KRY
Netherlands NET
North European Russia RUN
Northwest European Russia RUW
Norway NOR
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Portugal POR
Romania ROM
South European Russia RUS
Spain SPA
Sweden SWE
Switzerland SWI
Türkiye-in-Europe TUE
Ukraine UKR
Altay ALT ASIA-TEMPERATE
Amur AMU
Buryatiya BRY
China North-Central CHN
China South-Central CHC
Chita CTA
Inner Mongolia CHI
Irkutsk IRK
Kamchatka KAM
Kazakhstan KAZ
Khabarovsk KHA
Kirgizstan KGZ
Krasnoyarsk KRA
Kuril Is. KUR
Lebanon-Syria LBS
Manchuria CHM
Mongolia MON
North Caucasus NCS
Palestine PAL
Primorye PRM
Sakhalin SAK
Tadzhikistan TZK
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Tuva TVA
Uzbekistan UZB
West Siberia WSB
Xinjiang CHX
Yakutiya YAK
Yemen YEM
Algeria ALG AFRICA
Morocco MOR
Tunisia TUN
Nepal NEP ASIA-TROPICAL
Pakistan PAK
West Himalaya WHM

Not drawn on the map: Kuril Is., Great Britain. We hold no public-domain boundary for these regions, so they are listed rather than guessed at.

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Flowering 248 in flower of 255 examined

Proportion of examined Myosotis laxa in flower, by month
Month In flower Examined Share 95% interval
Jan 24 25 96% 80% to 99%
Feb 6 7 86% 49% to 97%
Mar 8 8 100% 68% to 100%
Apr 15 15 100% 80% to 100%
May 32 34 94% 81% to 98%
Jun 50 50 100% 93% to 100%
Jul 38 38 100% 91% to 100%
Aug 21 22 95% 78% to 99%
Sep 16 17 94% 73% to 99%
Oct 14 14 100% 78% to 100%
Nov 10 11 91% 62% to 98%
Dec 14 14 100% 78% to 100%

Peak flowering in Mar. Each bar is the share of Myosotis laxa observations in which someone actually recorded the reproductive state and found the plant in flower, not the raw number of flowering records. That distinction matters: people observe plants far more in spring than in winter, so a bare count of flowering records partly measures when people go outside. Dividing by the number examined removes that. 248 of 255 examined observations were in flower, every one of them research grade. The whisker on each bar is a 95% Wilson interval. This is still a global aggregate and not a forecast for your garden: the same species flowers on different dates in different hemispheres. Where a species has fewer than 30 flowering records we do not draw this chart at all. Computed from 10.15468/dl.cgje2x.

Where it actually grows measured, from 1,009 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -14.4 °C -1.8 °C 7.8 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 17.9 °C 24.1 °C 30.7 °C
Annual rainfall 464 mm 1,113 mm 1,842 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 35 mm 158 mm 310 mm

It is found where winters bring hard frost. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 1,009 research-grade observations of Myosotis laxa that carry a coordinate, and this is the range those places actually span. The 5th and 95th percentiles are used rather than the minimum and maximum, because a single cultivated specimen in a heated conservatory should not widen a tropical plant's range to the Arctic.

This is not a hardiness zone. A USDA zone is the average annual extreme minimum temperature. The figure above is the mean daily minimum of the coldest month, which is a different quantity and is typically far warmer. Reading one as the other would place a plant several zones too warm, so we do not publish a hardiness zone, because we do not have one. Climate from CHELSA V2.1 (Karger et al. 2017); occurrences from 10.15468/dl.cgje2x.

Also published as 14 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Myosotis baltica Sam.
  • Myosotis baltica Sam. ex Lindm.
  • Myosotis caespitosa Schultz
  • Myosotis caespitosa var. laxa DC.
  • Myosotis commutata Roem. & Schult.
  • Myosotis laxa var. baltica (Sam.) Apelgren
  • Myosotis laxa var. cespitosa (Schultz) Apelgren
  • Myosotis macrocalyx (Fisch. & C.A.Mey.) O.D.Nikif.
  • Myosotis palustris var. laxa (Lehm.) A.Gray
  • Myosotis palustris var. strigulosa Mert. ex W.D.J.Koch
  • Myosotis scorpioides subsp. baltica (Lehm.) Hegi
  • Myosotis scorpioides subsp. caespitosa (Schultz) Herm.
  • Myosotis subvernicosa Colenso
  • Myosotis uliginosa Schrad. ex Mert. & W.D.J.Koch

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.