MYOSOTIS LITORALIS

Family and Genus:- See- BORAGINACEAE

Common Names:- None

Homotypic Synonyms:- Myosotis vernalis.

Meaning:- Myosotis (Gr) Mouse-ear, A name used by the Greek physician and

botanist Dioscorides.

Litoralis (L) Growing by the sea-shore.

General description:- Annual.

Stem:-

1) 2-7 cm. procumbent, often much-branched and forming a cushion.

Leaves:-

1) Narrowly lingulate, somewhat clavate at maturity thickly covered with straight

hairs, dark grey-green.

Flowers:-

1) Inflorescence, ebracteate throughout.

a) pedicels, 2·5 mm in fruit, uniformly thickened.

2) Calyx, c. 3·5 mm, very crowded in fruit, patent or appressed to the stem and

pointing upwards.

3) Corolla, saucer-shaped. pale blue to white.

a) Limb, up to 2 mm diam.

Fruit:-

1) Nutlets, up to 1·2 mm, without a rim; attachment-area with 2 marginal grooves.

brown.

Key features:-

1) Inflorescence, ebracteate, or only the lowermost flowers in the axils of the

bracts.

2) Calyces, up to 3.5 mm in fruit, crowded and appressed to the stem.

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- Sandy coastal habitats, soil pockets in garigue, dolines. 0-1400 m.

Distribution:- Greece, W Anatolia, the Black Sea area and Crimea. First recorded

by Niels Bohling (2000) from Psiloritis and fhe Limnakaro plain. Rare on Crete.

Flowering time:- Mar-May

Photos by:- Steve Lenton