Classification
Class
Magnoliopsida Brongn.
Family
Boraginaceae
Genus
Myosotis L.
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Myosotis rakiura L.B.Moore in Allan, Fl. New Zealand 1, 828 (1961)
Synonymy:
  • ≡ Myosotis capitata var. albiflora J.B.Armstr., Trans. & Proc. New Zealand Inst. 13: 340 (1881)
Type: Stewart Island/Rakiura, s. dat., Stack s.n. (CHR, first-step lecto, designated by L.B.Moore in H.H.Allan (ed.), Fl. New Zealand 1: 828 (1961); second-step lecto, designated here: CHR 635645!*; isolecto: CHR 635646!).
  • = Myosotis capitata subsp. albida Kirk, Trans. New Zealand Inst. 17: 224 (1885)
  • ≡ Myosotis albida (Kirk) Cheeseman ex Cockayne in Cockayne, Rep. Bot. Surv. Stewart Island 43 (1909) nom. illeg., non Myosotis albida Kunth 1818
Type: Stewart Island/Rakiura, Jan. 1883, Kirk s.n. (lecto, here designated: WELT SP045422!; syn: WELT SP045421!, WELT SP043361!).
Etymology:
The epithet rakiura is the Ngāi Tahu name in te reo Māori for Stewart Island, where this species is native. Rakiura is often translated as ‘glowing sky’ (raki = sky, ura = to be glowing, in the Ngāi Tahu dialect).
Vernacular Name(s):
Stewart Island forget-me-not
 Description

Rosette lvs oblong-spathulate; margins ± revolute; hairs short, silky, spreading, very crowded, abaxially retrorse except at tip. Lateral branches ascending; stem lvs many, = or > internodes. Cymes ebracteate, usually branched, many-flowered, compact. Calyx hairs crowded, short. Corolla white, c. 6 mm diam.; tube cylindric; filaments short but > anthers; anthers up to 1 mm long and wholly above scales.

[From: Webb et al. (1988) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 4.]

 Biostatus
Indigenous (Endemic)
 Phenology

Flowering: Nov.–Jan.; Fruiting: Jan.–Feb.

 Bibliography
Armstrong, J.B. 1881: Descriptions of new and rare New Zealand plants. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 13: 335–343.
Cockayne, L. 1909: Report on a Botanical Survey of Stewart Island. Government Printer, Wellington, N.Z.
de Lange, P.J.; Norton, D.A.; Courtney, S.P.; Heenan, P.B.; Barkla, J.W.; Cameron, E.K.; Hitchmough, R.; Townsend, A.J. 2009: Threatened and uncommon plants of New Zealand (2008 revision). New Zealand Journal of Botany 47: 61–96. [Naturally uncommon]
de Lange, P.J.; Norton, D.A.; Heenan, P.B.; Courtney, S.P.; Molloy, B.P.J.; Ogle, C.C.; Rance, B.D. 2004: Threatened and uncommon plants of New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 42(1): 45–76.
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Barkla J.W.; Courtney, S.P.; Champion, P.D.; Perrie, L.R.; Beadel, S.N.; Ford, K.A.; Breitwieser, I.; Schönberger, I.; Hindmarsh-Walls, R.; Heenan, P.B.; Ladley, K. 2018: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017. New Zealand Threat Classification Series. No. 22. [Naturally Uncommon]
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Champion, P.D.; Courtney, S.P.; Heenan, P.B.; Barkla, J.W.; Cameron, E.K.; Norton, D.A.; Hitchmough, R.A. 2013: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2012. New Zealand Threat Classification Series 3. Department of Conservation, Wellington. [Naturally Uncommon]
Kirk, T. 1885 ("1884"): On the Flowering Plants of Stewart Island. Transactions of the New Zealand Institute 17: 213–228.