Classification
Class
Magnoliopsida Brongn.
Family
Boraginaceae
Genus
Myosotis L.
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Myosotis spatulata G.Forst., Fl. Ins. Austr. 12 (1786)
Synonymy:
  • ≡ Anchusa spatulata (G.Forst.) R.Br. ex Roem. & Schult., Syst. Veg. (ed. 16) [Roemer & Schultes] 100 (1819) – as spathulata
  • ≡ Gymnomyosotis spatulata (G.Forst.) O.D.Nikif. (2000)
Type citation: ‘Nova Zeelandia’. Type: Forster 32 (lecto (designated by Moore 1961): P00321914 (image!))
  • = Myosotis orbiculata G.Simpson, Trans. Roy. Soc. New Zealand 79: 425 (1952)
Type: In the ‘Back’ Valley, Garnock Burn, L. Manapouri, cotype, moist grassland and shrub flat, 7 Jan. 1947, G. Simpson s.n. (holo: CHR 75721! (A and B† sheets; image: CHR 549661!)).
  • = Myosotis spatulata var. radicata L.B.Moore in Allan, Fl. New Zealand 1, 832 (1961) – as spathulata
Type: plant from A.P.D. garden coll. 51 Mar. 1957, seedling from original plant which was collected in north-western Ruahines, limestone crevice, ~4000 feet (~1200 m), s. dat., A.P. Druce s.n. (holo: CHR 87680! (A† and B sheets)).
Etymology:
The epithet is derived from the Greek words spathe (blade) and spatulata (spatula or spoon-shaped) (Stearn 1998) and refers to leaf shape.
 Description

Branches decumbent, sometimes with subsidiary rosettes, with some roots from nodes. Lf lamina orbicular to broadly ovate; hairs short, straight, ± appressed, not crowded, usually similar on both surfaces. Stem lvs = or < internodes. Fls solitary, each associated with a lf. Calyx lobed almost to base; hairs spreading, not uniform, the largest ± hooked. Corolla white, 1–3 mm diam.; tube cylindric; anthers wholly exserted.

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

 Biostatus
Indigenous (Endemic)
 Phenology

Flowering: Aug.–Apr.; Fruiting: Aug.–Jun.

 Bibliography
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; Not threatened]
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. [as Myosotis spatulata G.Forst. var. spatulata; Myosotis spatulata var. radicata L.B.Moore]
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]
Forster, J.G.A. 1786: Florulae Insularum Australium Prodromus. Dietrich, Göttingen.
Meudt, H.M.; Prebble, J.M. 2018: Species limits and taxonomic revision of the bracteate-prostrate group of southern hemisphere forget-me-nots (Myosotis, Boraginaceae), including description of three new species endemic to New Zealand. Australian Systematic Botany 31: 48–105.
Roemer, J.J.; Schultes, J.A. 1819: Systema vegetabilium. Vol. 4. Edition 16.
Simpson, G. 1952: Notes on some New Zealand plants and descriptions of new species (No. 5). Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand 79: 419–435.