Myosotis sylvatica Ehrh. ex Hoffm., Wood Forget-me-not

Account Summary

Growth form and status

This erect, 15-45 cm tall, pubescent biennial or short-lived perennial is polymorphic and very variable, occurring as a local native species in parts of Britain (see below), but entirely absent as a native in Ireland, and likewise rare or absent from most of Wales, Scotland and SW England. Elsewhere in B & I, another form or variety of the species is present as a rather rare garden escape. In Ireland, M. sylvatica is always considered a rare, neophyte, garden escape. The garden form or variety is common as an escape in Britain, although it is often a problem distinguishing native from cultivated forms.

Identification

Small forms of M. sylvatica and large forms of M. arvensis (Field Forget-me-not) are easily confused: the larger corolla of M. sylvatica is a good diagnostic character (4-)6-10(-11) mm as opposed to 2.5-5 mm in M. arvensis. In deeply shaded habitat conditions, M. sylvatica can also be much smaller and more spindly in form than normal plants.

The diameter of the flower is generally used to distinguish M. arvensis from M. sylvatica. The critical measurement is 5 mm across: if larger than this the species is M. sylvatica, if smaller then M. arvensis. If the flower being examined is exactly 5 mm in diameter, then one has to try to distinguish these two species by whether the petal lobes are flat (M. sylvatica) or concave (M. arvensis) (Garrard & Streeter 1983; A.J. Silverside & T.C.G. Rich, in: Rich & Jermy 1998).

There are many garden varieties offering a range of flower colour, seasonality and plant size. Griffiths (1994) names eleven cultivars, which represent a mere sample of those in the horticultural trade.

Preferred habitats

Typically, M. sylvatica grows on damp, fertile, moderately acid to neutral soils in woodland shade or in rocky grassland, both habitat situations sharing the ecological feature of sheltering herbs of relatively low competitive ability from the aggressive potential of taller, more vigorous species. The established strategy of M. sylvatica is categorized as R/CSR, ie intermediate between Ruderal and a more balanced Competitor-Stress-tolerant-Ruderal ecological approach (Grime et al. 1988, 2007). It can also be found in more open areas of woods, in clearings and on the margins of scrub on chalk grassland slopes, and along wooded calcareous streams. Having said this, it is not always clear whether populations are native or of garden origin since the two varieties of plant are often indistinguishable. Populations where there are a number of white or pink flowers are probably of garden origin (Brewis et al. 1996).

Flowering reproduction

As one would expect of a species with numerous named varieties of garden merit, M. sylvatica flowers abundantly, mainly in May and June, but occasionally until September. The basal or lowest leaves are scarcely stalked, usually wither at anthesis (ie flowering time) and disappear (Sell & Murrell 2009). The corolla is bright blue with a pale eye, 6-8(-11) mm in diameter, the petal lobes flat, not concave. The cultivated form has large, even brighter blue, or purple, or often pink, or rarely white flowers with a pale yellow eye up to 11 mm in diameter, while the native form has flowers up to 8 mm in diameter, but often much less than this (Sell & Murrell 2009).

The flowers contain nectar and are pollinated by a range of insects, or else they self-pollinate. Either way, they generally set large quantities of 'seed' (ie nutlets or achenes) (Clapham et al. 1987).

As with other terrestrial members of the genus (and family), there does not appear to be any obvious specialised dispersal mechanism for the small 'seeds' (other than wind), yet the plant somehow does manage to regularly 'jump the garden wall', so there remains something of a mystery to be solved!

The soil seed bank survey of NW Europe makes no mention of M. sylvatica, and the current author (RSF) has not found any information suggesting seed longevity in the literature available to him. It is probably transient, surviving less than one year.

Fermanagh occurrence

Although this freely seeding, biennial or perennial garden escape appeared thoroughly naturalised in Crom Castle Estate when Meikle and co-workers first discovered it in the 1947-53 period, as the tetrad map indicates, it has only been recorded in Fermanagh seven times at six well scattered sites since 1975. It has not been refound at the original Crom site in the far SE of the county.

Details of the other Fermanagh records are: lakeshore near yacht club marina, Goblusk Bay, Lower Lough Erne, 1991 & 1993, I. McNeill; Necarne Estate near Irvinestown, 3 July 1995, I. McNeill; shore at Derrymullan Old Church (ruins), Upper Lough Erne, 20 May 1996, RHN; dump at Blacklands, Clabby Road, 1987-99, I. & D. McNeill; roadside at Letterbreen, 21 May 2004, RHN; near Ardress House, 2.5 km SE of Kesh, 2 May 2008, I. McNeill.

Irish occurrence

In Ireland, M. sylvatica is chiefly recorded in northern VCs. Apart from Fermanagh, until recently, isolated finds of M. sylvatica garden escapes have occurred in just five other Irish VCs (E Cork (H5), Laois (H14), Co Dublin (H21), E Donegal (H34) and Tyrone (H36)). Habitats comprised a variety of semi-wild, mainly shaded situations and the sites included woodland, river-banks, a shrubbery, hedges and a gravel car park (Cat Alien Pl Ir).

British occurrence

The native range of M. sylvatica has become obscured by the plant mixing with the introduced horticultural form. Always a rather local species, it is considered that the native area included most of N England south of the Scottish Border to a line between the Wash to the Severn, plus parts of SE England, including Hampshire (Brewis et al. 1996). Within this area, M. sylvatica is a plant of damp woodlands, often on heavy clay or calcareous soils, and it can sometimes be abundantly present (Garrard & Streeter 1983; Brewis et al. 1996; Preston et al. 2002).

European and world occurrence

M. sylvatica is present in most of Europe and there are other subspecies or closely allied species in the Middle East and W Asia. It is therefore regarded as belonging to the Eurasian temperate element. Cultivated forms have been introduced in many areas of the world, including southern parts of Africa, further east in C Asia, Japan, New Zealand and N America (Hultén & Fries 1986, Map 1557; Clapham et al. 1987; Sell & Murrell 2009).

Threats

None.

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