FORGET-ME-NOT, or Scorpion-Grass (German Vergissmeinnicht ’ 3 French, grémillet, scorpionne), the name popularly applied to the small annual or perennial herbs forming the genus Myosotis of the natural order Boraginaceae, so called from μ⅛ a mouse, and oυς, an ear, on account of the shape of the leaves. The genus is represented in Europe, North Asia, North America, and Australia, and is characterized by oblong or linear stemleaves; flowers in terminal scorpioid cymes (see Botany, vol. iv. p. 125, fig. 169); small ebracteate blue, pink, or white flowers; a five-cleft persistent calyx; a salver or funnel-shaped corolla, having its mouth closed by five short scales; and hard, smooth, and shining nutlets. The common or true Forget-me-not, the Water Myosote, Μ. palustris, With., is a perennial plant growing to a height of 6 to 18 inches, with rootstock creeping; stem clothed with lax spreading hairs; leaves light green, and somewhat shining; buds pink, becoming blue as they expand; corolla rotate, broad, with retuse lobes, and bright blue with a yellow centre. The divisions of the calyx extend only about one-third the length of the corolla, whereas in the other British species of Myosotis it is deeply cleft. The forget-me-not, a favourite with poets, and the symbol of constancy, is a frequent ornament of brooks, rivers, and ditches, and, according to an old German tradition, received its name from the last words of a knight who was drowned in the attempt to procure the flower for his lady. It attains its greatest perfection'under cultivation, and, as it flowers throughout the summer, is used with good effect for garden borders. A variety, Μ. strτgulosa, is more hairy and erect, and its flowers are smaller. The species Μ. versicolor bears both blue and yellow ...