Clark's Oregon Wildflower Blog: Forget-Me-Not

Of the many blooms appearing this time of year, Forget-Me-Not certainly deserves its own post! One can spin many meanings from this popular flower with an "unforgettable" name. It was a fun one to research as well, because there are many, many references out there on the web. The small blue flowers with a bright gold center are indeed memorable, especially in large colonies like the ones we found at Jenkins Estate. There are about 200 species in the Myosotis genus and 50 that could be called Forget-Me-Not, most of them not native to the Northwest.

The non-native Myosotis sylvatica at Jenkins Estate - 4/25/2014

There are books, movies, poems, and songs with the Forget-Me-Not title, so the name seems almost essential to our human nature, so to speak. It is the state flower of Alaska, has been adopted as the symbol for the Canadian Alzheimer's Society, the Canadian causalities of wars, and as a Freemason symbol to not forget the poor and destitute. Henry IV even used it after he was exiled in 1398!

In looking for the source of the common name, there seemed to be a general similarity of idealistic stories that went something like this:

In 15th-century Germany, it was said that those who kept or wore 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 batch of the yet to be named flowers, but because of the weight of his armor he fell into the river. As he was swept away he shouted "forget-me-not" to his lady. Over time, the flowers were often worn by women as a sign of faithfulness and enduring love.

There are numerous floral shops all over the country listed on the web with the name Forget-Me-Not. Kind of a clever name... And finally, I spent a few minutes on a poetry website that has hundreds of poems on this theme, such as this recent one with a unique twist by Kelly Lutz:

Forget Me (not?)

Forgetful little flower
Only learned to follow
But never to follow through
With the little things
Like her dreams
He loves me, he loves me not
Was all she could think about

Myosotis sylvatica blooms are about 1/2 to 5/8 in. wide.

One of our native species is the Small-Flowered Forget-Me-Not (Myosotis laxa), which has VERY small flowers of 1/8 in. or smaller! These flowers emerge yellow, and then turn blue. We actually found some of these growing in our backyard in a gravel pathway!